


Right Where I Needed You

by secretfanboy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Derek Has Issues, Doctor Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Matchmaking, Werewolf Infection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-10-18
Packaged: 2018-02-08 13:17:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1942596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretfanboy/pseuds/secretfanboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles passes up a bright future in magical medicine to move back to Beacon Hills to study under Dr. Deaton and become a werewolf specialist.  Talia Hale doesn't care why Stiles has come back to Beacon Hills, she just wants him to marry her sourwolf of a son.  Setting them on a collision course shouldn't be that difficult, but when do Stiles and Derek make anything easy for anyone...including themselves?</p><p>Now Derek's pack is infected with a possible magical/biological weapon, can Stiles find a cure before it's too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea started out after I read an awesome Doctor!Stiles fic that I can no longer remember the name of and thought I'd combine it with an idea I'd been kicking around about Claudia and Talia conspiring to get Derek and Stiles together.
> 
> Because I have a tendency to write these big chapters that take me forever to finish I thought I'd experiment with trying to only write chapters that are 1500 words long. I did okay with that, but I originally thought this fic would only be three or four chapters. I went over as this story just took on a life of its own that I couldn't have predicted when I started writing it. It was supposed to be all romantic and fluffy I swear, but...winter is coming! I can't help it my heart if full of darkness!
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: Some characters might die in this fic. Maybe.
> 
> (It's crazy to me that they had an infection storyline on the show this week, when I started writing this over two months ago. What else will this fic predict? Read and find out!)
> 
> If you want to follow me on Tumblr I'm [secretfanboy](http://secretfanboy.tumblr.com/) on there too. I don't post often so I won't blow up your dash.

"I feel as though we've failed you Doctor Stilinski."

Stiles looked up at the bespectacled member of the medical board with a highly confused look on his face.

"I'm sorry...what?"

The doctor in question flipped through papers in Stiles' file.

"Double major undergraduate at Berkeley in Pre-Med and Magical Theory in three years by age eighteen. MD and a PhD in Magical Medicine from Stanford by age twenty-two. Now at age twenty five you are finishing your residency here at UCSF. You've been published in several medical and magical journals and you have offers from major research hospitals all over the English speaking world, from Harvard and Princeton-Plainsboro to Oxford and Saint Mungo's. You're a genius and a prodigy Doctor Stilinski...yet you want to leave behind all these of opportunities to go to Beacon Hills and specialize in werewolf medicine? I'm sure you are aware that werewolves rarely need medical assistance?"

"I am, but what's fascinating is we don't know why a werewolf's immune system breaks down when it does. Beacon Hills has the largest werewolf population in the United States and also has Doctor Deaton, one of the country's only two experts in the field."

"The other being Doctor Fredericks whose ideas you publicly called..." the doctor on the panel flipped through his file to find the exact quote before looking back at Stiles. "Asinine."

"They are!" cried Stiles throwing his arms up in the air. "The man could barely pass a high school class on the care and feeding of magical creatures! It's like he actually wants to harm werewolves."

The members of the panel all shared a look that Stiles could not read.

"Well Doctor Stilinski, despite what we may think about your future plans, they are your plans and you are free to follow them. We wish you the best in your endeavors in...Beacon Hills."

*****

Claudia Stilinski was not expecting anyone at her door. In the age of cell phones and email people generally phoned, texted, or sent you a Facebook message rather than calling on you in person. And of all of the people who might show up unannounced at her doorstep, Talia Hale was pretty far down on that list.

"Talia? It's been so long. To what do I owe this honor?"

"I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

"Well come in, come in," replied Claudia with a gesture of her hand. After Talia stepped inside she said "Because of John we only keep decaf coffee around the house, but I could offer you tea. Stiles might have some of the real stuff hidden in his room somewhere, but I wouldn't know where to start looking."

"Tea would be lovely."

Talia followed her into the kitchen and sat on one of the bar stools Claudia motioned toward.

"How is Stiles?"

"He's very busy with his shifts at the hospital. He's the only magical practitioner they have there except that dermatologist...I forget his name, so he's doing double duty." Claudia noticed that Talia was surveying her kitchen. "Is there something wrong?"

"Your home is just so...clean," said Talia. "You'll have to forgive me, but I live with twelve werewolves, two of which are still teenagers, so my house has never been this clean."

Claudia laughed as she handed Talia a cup.

"When he was younger Stiles probably created as much mess as twelve werewolves, but now...actually I don't know how he is anymore. He's been living away from home for so long."

"That must have been hard to not have him with you."

"It was. Of course, you understand loss more than I..."

Claudia found herself at a loss for what else to say.

"I didn't mean for this to be a sad visit," said Talia. "I actually came with what I hope is a bit of a proposition for you."

"I had a feeling you might have some motive other than a casual visit," said Claudia with a playfully scrutinizing gaze as she poured the tea.

"I think...I feel...that our sons, Derek and Stiles, would be a good match."

"Derek and Stiles?" asked Claudia as if she didn't hear Talia correctly. "Romantically?"

"Yes," said Talia with a smile turning up at the corner of her mouth.

Claudia sat back and gave Talia a considering look.

"Isn't Derek a bit...gruff for Stiles?" asked Claudia.

"Don't let Derek's exterior fool you. He's really very sensitive."

"He's known to literally growl at people around town."

"Derek..." Talia paused. She wasn't sure if this was the moment to share this, but she wanted Claudia to really understand. "Derek still blames himself for the fire."

Claudia wanted to cover her mouth with her hand, but she stopped herself. It's something that her mother would have done and she always found it such a ridiculous gesture. In a way she understood it a bit in that moment, because she was finding it hard to mask the emotions that were overcoming her.

"The fire was an act of terrorism, a hate crime," said Claudia aloud even though she knew Talia knew this as well as anyone. "Kate Argent was convicted and got the chair."

"And Derek hasn't dated since."

Claudia thought of poor Derek blaming himself for the deaths of his father, siblings and cousins. For his uncle's madness and all of the mayhem that followed including Stiles' best friend Scott being bitten. Derek is at least thirty years old and he hasn't dated since he was sixteen. Claudia thought of it in a way like a young soldier who loses his legs and then misses out on so much of life. Derek has missed out on love because he can no longer let anyone close.

"Derek needs someone he can trust and he's known Stiles his entire life," said Talia as if reading her mind. "Stiles is also sensitive, but I have on good authority that he can dish it out as well as take it. I also have it on good authority that he's been too busy being a medical prodigy to find time to date."

"Don't misunderstand me Talia, I love Derek like he was family, but what makes you think he would be good with Stiles?"

"Look at how Derek is with his family and with his pack. He's slavishly devoted to those he loves. Stiles has been mostly alone these last few years while he's been off becoming the perfect doctor and Scott and his other friends have grown and are starting to have their own lives. Isn't it time that Stiles had someone that was devoted to him?"

Claudia wasn't sure about this, but Talia seemed so certain.

"They're so different. What makes you think that Derek is even interested in Stiles?"

"On the outside they are different, but on the inside...their hearts are very similar. I want my son to be happy and I think he and Stiles will make each other very happy," said Talia before her mouth pulled into a grin. "And can you blame an Alpha for wanting the world's foremost expert on werewolf medicine to marry her son?"

"He's not the world's foremost expert."

Talia took a sip of her tea.

"Not yet."

"How is it that you seem to know more about my son than I do?"

"Why Claudia, I _am_ the Alpha of the largest collection of packs in North America," said Talia with a smile. "And there was an article in Werewolf Weekly."

"Werewolf Weekly? They still publish that?"

"There's an online version. I subscribe out of sentimentality."

Claudia refilled her own cup.

"Stiles thinks that Derek hates him."

"Hates him? Whatever for?" asked Talia.

"The incident with the eyebrows."

Talia bursts out laughing.

"Laura loves to tell that story at every holiday. It was the only thing that could get Peter to smile after..."

They fell into silence remembering Peter's rampage when he finally snapped months after the fire.

"Stiles has had a crush on Laura and Derek since he hit puberty," admitted Claudia trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh god," Talia laughed. "Laura would tear him apart."

"What?" asked Claudia with a grin.

"Laura isn't exactly gentle with her boyfriends, physically or emotionally."

Claudia laughed.

"Why did he never have a crush on Cora?" inquired Talia.

"I think she's responsible for too much of his childhood trauma."

"That surprises no one," said Talia with a smile.

Claudia exhaled before looking Talia in the eye.

"Derek and Stiles?"

"I personally think it's one of my more brilliant ideas," said Talia.

"You think all of your ideas are brilliant," replied Claudia. "Say that I agree...hypothetically...how do you propose we get the two of them together?"

"Oh I have some ideas on that too," said Talia with a smile.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles was not sure that he was awake.

He was standing naked in the middle of the forest. That's not why he wasn't sure he's not awake. He'd been naked in the middle of forests after one ritual or another. It's that he couldn't remember how he got there. At first he thought it was day, but now it looks like it could be night. He couldn't tell where the light was coming from because it seemed to come from nowhere or perhaps everywhere. There was also something else about this place he couldn't put his finger on until he heard a wolf howling in the distance.

There was no sound. Once he heard the wolf howl he realized that there was no noise in this forest. His brain was trying to coalesce a thought, but it eluded him like trying to grasp at mist. It was raining on Stiles, but the rain was warm like it is in Hawaii and this forest looks like Northern California. Then the wolf howled again and Stiles knew that he knew that howl.

His eyes flew open and the vision vaporized. Stiles was standing in the shower and he had no idea how long he was lost in his vision. The water was still warm so that was a good sign. At least he wasn't out for an hour.

Stiles dried himself off and pulled some clothes on just as the doorbell rang. He knew his parents were both out for the morning so he raced down the stairs with bare feet and still wet hair and yanked the door open.

And there stood Derek Hale.

"Uh...hi? Derek? What are you doing at my house?"

Derek looked somehow even more handsome than the last time Stiles saw him a few years ago, at which time he had already been in the running for most attractive man alive. He still had his patented Derek Hale downturned mouth which only made Stiles want to do anything to remove that downturn, preferably with an application of his own mouth.

"Your mom asked my mom to have me fix something with the back screen door that your dad has been too busy to take care of?"

Stiles imagined Talia making millions off of lonely Beacon Hills housewives who would pay good money to watch Derek work on their house. Did he take his shirt off on hot days?

Derek was looking at him oddly and Stiles hoped he hadn't been staring at Derek's mouth for too long or worse: said any of his thoughts out loud.

"Sure...come on in," Stiles replied gesturing him in. "The back door is that way. Towards the back. Where the back of the house is."

Derek grunted his thanks as he passed and Stiles went up to his room and hid until he had to leave for his shift at the hospital.

*****

Stiles was doing everything in his power not to be openly frustrated when dealing with the ER today while Melissa McCall was not on duty. She seemed to be the only head nurse capable of wrangling everything. It might also be because she's the only nurse that can get the doctors in line when she starts to order them around.

Many of the staff hadn't gotten used to him as a doctor and an authority figure. Some of them remember him as a child coming in with his mother or Scott. He'd been at the hospital for nearly a month and he still had to remind them that he was a doctor for whom they worked and not a kid coming in to visit his mom while she worked.

"Stiles!"

Stiles did everything short of using magic to not appear unsettled or frightened by the appearance of Laura Hale in the emergency room. He hadn't seen her for years as his visits to Beacon Hills had always been short and spent almost exclusively with his parents and Scott. They'd never had a bad relationship, they'd just never been close. As he made his way around the front desk and walked toward her, she didn't seem upset so he decided to go for playful to put her off his initial uneasyness.

"That's Doctor Stilinski to you District Attorney Hale."

Laura laughed. "It's assistant district attorney."

"Oh that's right, you're only an assistant district attorney while I'm an assistant...wait...nope...I'm a full doctor."

She laughed again after giving him a little shove which made him feel as though he was safe.

"The jokes never stop with you do they Stiles?"

"What can I do for you Laura?"

"Your presence has been formally requested by the Head Alpha of Beacon Hills at a dinner two days hence," Laura said with a slight bow and a flourish of her hand.

"Your mom wants me to come to dinner on Thursday?"

"If you're not busy."

Stiles thought it was odd that he was being invited alone and not with his parents. He supposed since he'd basically declared his allegiance with all werewolves with his very public pursuit of werewolf medicine, that the most powerful Alpha in North America should probably be seen making an overture.

"I think I can get out of here early. What time and what should I bring?"

"7pm. Dessert if you want to make mom happy, some of that booze that affects werewolves if you want to make everyone else happy."

"Thursday 7pm. Pie. Magical werewolf hooch. Got it."

"Looking forward to it!" Laura called as she walked away.

Stiles stood still for a moment, feeling as if he'd just experienced some sort of social drive-by shooting.

"Why am I suddenly surrounded by Hales?" Stiles muttered to himself.

*****

Stiles rolled up the Hale house two days later with two blueberry pies from the best bakery in town and a large bottle of expensive whiskey that he'd soaked some carefully prepared magic herbs in. Normally you'd need to soak the herbs for two weeks or more to get the desired effect, but Stiles knew a spell to accelerate the process.

He wasn't sure why he was nervous, he'd known the Hales his whole life, even longer than he'd known Scott. Perhaps because he was invited alone, not as the "Stilinski kid". He'd barely seen the Hales in the last ten years and while at school he rarely interacted with non-academics outside of his parents and the McCalls. The idea of being surrounded by a bunch of normal people and being expected to make conversation with them made him a bit apprehensive. They weren't mundanes, they were werewolves, but besides that they were just your normal large family full of loud boisterous people. Stiles really hoped the evening wasn't full of long awkward silences caused by his social missteps.

He couldn't wait any longer, they must have heard his car pull up. It was too late to back out now.

Stiles barely got two knocks in when the door was wrenched quickly open by a sinisterly smiling Cora.

"Hello Stiles..." she said to him as if she were inviting him into a haunted house.

"Thanks..." he said as he walked past her into the house.

"Are you still afraid of scary movies Stiles?" Cora whispered into his ear.

"I was eight and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not family friendly fare. Even that new version."

Cora snorted a laugh.

"Leave him alone Cora. It's too early in the evening to scare him off."

Stiles turned to see Talia Hale standing in the hallway with a stack of plates in her hand. He always remembered her being so large so it was strange to realize that he was now taller than her and probably had been for quite some time.

"Alpha Hale, I come as requested," Stiles said with a curtsey.

"Stop it Stiles, call me Talia."

"Talia...I come bearing blueberry pies and werewolf hooch."

"Oh dear."

Laura's head poked out of a doorway down the hall. Her eyes lit up.

"Stiles brought the werewolf booze!"

Laura barreled down the hall past her mother who only avoided dropping all the plates using werewolf agility. Cora tried to take the bottle from Stiles, but Laura got to it first.

"It's so nice having one of you magic types around," said Laura inspecting the label. Cora tried to push her head in close so she could read it too.

"And it's nice to have one of you...what are you good for again?" Stiles asked her.

"Go! All of you!" exclaimed Talia with a laugh. "Into the study while I finish setting the table."

Laura took the pies from him and somehow handed them off to her mother before pulling Stiles into the study, Cora trailing close behind.

"Hey Der, Stiles brought the good stuff. Want some?" asked Laura as she pulled Stiles into the study.

"No, thanks. Hi Stiles."

"Hey Derek."

Stiles admired the woodwork and all of the books in the study. Stiles hadn't spent much time in the Hale house after the fire. Those had been a few dark years. Sometimes Talia would come over to visit with his mother and she would bring Cora to play with Stiles. With all of the media attention around the terrorist attack, the Hales became wary of all but their closest friends. Stiles remembered how Cora would often slip into a deep sadness. Now almost fifteen years later they were all back to being their boisterous selves. Except for Derek. He was still fairly somber.

Laura found a few tumblers and a bottle of mundane booze and put them on a table. She poured what smelled like brandy for Stiles and some hefty portions of the werewolf whiskey for herself and Cora.

"You're gonna wanna go easy on that," Stiles warned her. "I made it extra potent."

"You always were my favorite Stiles," said Cora.

"Scott was your favorite," said Stiles taking a sip of his own drink.

"No, Scott was the innocent and sweet one so I went easy on him," said Cora. "That didn't make him my favorite."

"Ah," said Stiles. "You always hurt the ones you love."

He and Laura talked about work which was...as interesting as work talk was. Cora was apparently fixated on Argentina and kept going back to spend time there, but wasn't sure what graduate degree would best help her move down there permanently. Derek sat silently in the room reading as if the three of them weren't carrying on a loud conversation. Stiles wondered if he did that a lot, spending time alone in a room full of people.

"Dinner's ready!" came a shout from down the hall. Laura picked up the bottle and she and Cora pulled Stiles down the hall to the large dining room with Derek trailing behind them. Inside the room were a number of family members, some of whom Stiles did not recognize. Stiles began to pull out a chair. There was a sudden dance of Hales swirling around exclaiming "I'm sitting there" and "My chair!" until the only seats left for Stiles and Derek were right next to each other and across from Talia. Stiles took the nearest of the two remaining chairs and sat down. Derek seemed to take a moment to follow him.

Dinner was pleasant enough. Talia and her new husband, new to Stiles anyway, they'd been married five years, asked him about work and how he'd enjoyed living in San Francisco. They also talked about Derek's life as a perpetual student with his three bachelor's degrees and two master's degrees. Stiles made a comment about how Derek could have had two PhDs by that point and Talia suggested that maybe that was something Stiles could help him out with. In fact, the entire dinner conversation seemed to be entirely about he and Derek.

"Hey Stiles! Hey Stiles!" Laura slurred. "Remember that time you hexed Derek's eyebrows?"

Everyone except Derek and Stiles started laughing. Talia fought to control herself, but even she found it hard to get out a warning "Laura stop."

"I'd rather not remember," said Stiles. "And you've probably had enough of the booze, I told you I made it strong."

"Stiles hexed Derek's eyebrows so they moved of their own accord. They were like a couple of inchworms fight-dancing on his face for three days!" said Laura gleefully. She moved her fingers back and forth in front of her forehead to illustrate.

"To be fair I was ten years old and Derek had been mean to me," said Stiles.

"Mean to you? I wasn't mean to you," replied Derek with mild incredulity.

"You were totally mean to me!" returned Stiles, turning to face Derek. "You called me a dumb kid and told me to leave you alone."

"You, Scott, and Cora were bothering me!" retorted Derek. This was apparently a thing, because it caused another burst of laughter to come from the rest of the Hales.

"That's what all the meanies say," said Stiles which got a smile from Cora. Or maybe it was the booze bringing that smile to her face.

They eventually moved to the sitting room where all of the adult werewolves had some of the liquor Stiles brought while the humans had something more conventional. Eventually the evening wrapped up and Stiles said his goodbyes, even getting hugs from a few Hales, Talia, Laura, and Cora among them. Derek simply nodded his good night.

Driving home Stiles realized that he and Talia had never talked any kind of formal business. He wondered what the dinner had been for. Had they really just wanted to see him?

 


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles was hardly surprised when he answered the door and Derek was standing there with his tool belt on. It was the third time he'd been there to fix things since the dinner with the Hales. You'd think the Stilinski house was falling apart.

"What are you here to fix today?"

Derek looked a little embarrassed.

"Sink faucet in the guest bathroom."

Stiles wanted to make a porn joke about Derek showing up at his door in a tool belt, but he was worried that Derek would not only not get it, but then get offended when Stiles had to explain the joke and why he had such a filthy mind to the non-porn watching werewolf. Derek seemed to have finally stopped hating him so he elected to just wave him inside.

"Upstairs. Last door on the right."

Derek made his way upstairs, his ridiculously hot ass looking amazing with the tool belt. He nearly muttered a joke to himself about fixing Derek's faucet, but then reminded himself about werewolf hearing.

Stiles got back to his pre-work puttering around the house when he reminded himself that it was probably polite to offer Derek a drink. He went upstairs to where Derek was working on the sink.

"Can I get you something to drink? Beer, water, orange juice?"

"Little early for a beer isn't it?" asked Derek with a Hale eyebrow raise.

"You're a werewolf. It's just flavored water to you anyway."

"Non-beer flavored water sounds great."

Stiles headed back down to the kitchen and found the biggest tumbler he could find and filled it with ice water. When he got back upstairs Derek was on his back underneath the sink. Porn films do not do this moment justice. Stiles was very much enjoying the view of Derek's exposed abs where his shirt had ridden up. He set the drink down.

"Drink is up on the counter."

"Thanks."

"Do you like being a handyman?"

"I dunno. It's alright for now."

"Maybe the next time you get a master's degree you could get it in something that can get you a job."

"You sound like my mother," said Derek.

"Ouch," replied Stiles. "Sorry. That's not very attractive of me."

"It's alright," said Derek. "You're attractive in other ways."

Stiles was completely caught off guard by that statement. Did Derek just flirt with him? He was underneath the sink so Stiles couldn't see his face. Luckily this also meant that Derek couldn't see his face because Stiles face was making a wild series of expressions as he tried to process Derek's last statement.

"So...how's that faucet?"

"Some of this is a little old," said Derek. "Probably the best bet is to replace the water supply lines."

"Oh yeah? What's that gonna cost?"

"About twelve dollars since I'm only charging your parents for parts."

"Really? How're you letting them get away with that?"

"As if my mother would ever let me charge your parents."

"Really? I hear their son's a doctor, you should try squeezing him," said Stiles who winced the second the words fell out of his mouth. He hoped Derek didn't think his unintentional bad double entendre was his attempt at flirting. Maybe he didn't notice. "For cash. You should try squeezing him for cash."

Stiles mimed slapping his own forehead.

"I'll have to think about trying to squeeze him sometime in the future," said Derek. "For cash that is."

If Stiles wasn't a medical professional, he might actually be worried in that moment that he could die of embarrassment.

It had been a long shift in the ER and Stiles was really looking forward to some diner food and an early bed-time. He walked past a bed with a curtain around it that Stiles hadn't seen any movement around for quite some time. His stomach told him that it was time to change and get down to Rosie's Diner, but there was something itching in the back of his head that told him to check out what was going on behind the curtain. The itching usually meant trouble and usually for him. He tried calling it his "Stilesy Sense" for a while, but Scott was having none of it.

He pulled the curtain back to a sight that had him a bit taken aback. There was a guy in his mid-twenties, a very pretty guy with curly hair, who seemed to be lying on the bed holding his guts in where he had several lacerations and a gorgeous blond woman, clearly a werewolf, who was pulling his pain from him.

"Have you been seen by anyone?" asked Stiles as he reached back for the guy's chart.

The guy tried to respond, but he was in too much pain.

"Yeah, but once they found out we were werewolves they just left us here to heal up by ourselves," said the young woman for him. "You know how it is."

Stiles glanced over the chart that said this guy's name was Isaac Lahey and saw that they'd been here for over four hours.

"Do you mind if I...?"

Stiles got a bit closer and investigated the wounds.

"He's not healing. Were you with him when it happened? Did an Alpha do this?"

"Yeah I was and no it wasn't," said the gorgeous blonde. "It was a momma grizzly. We were out running and Isaac can get a little reckless when he's shifted. He ran right up on the momma bear's cubs."

"So not a supernatural wound as far as we know," said Stiles partially to himself. He turned toward the nurses station and yelled for a nurse before turning back to the beautiful blond and putting back on his calm face. "What's your name?"

"Erica. You're Scott's friend right?"

"McCall? Best friend's for life. Erica, has Isaac been depressed or had something emotionally traumatic happen to him lately?" asked Stiles trying to appear as calm as possible. He knew Erica could hear his heart rate speeding up if she thought to listen.

"No, he hasn't," said Erica who started to pick up on his anxiety. "In fact his life has been better than ever lately."

A nurse pulled back the curtain. "Yes, doctor?"

"We have a werewolf here who isn't healing. I need him in an OR stat. Get someone to prep him and if Morell's still here call her down for a psyche eval," Stiles ordered.

Erica was no longer just exasperated. She was now panicked. "What's going on?"

"Hopefully it's nothing and Isaac's healing factor will start back up in no time, but until then we have to treat him like any other guy who has been attacked by a bear," said Stiles wishing he had time to do a spell to mask his heart rate and scent.

A nurse came in and pulled Erica away from Isaac and started to prep him to be moved to an OR. Stiles had a really bad feeling about this and he wanted to prove himself wrong, but the memories of the visions he'd had were pressing down on him. He used a hand to steady himself on the end of Isaac's bed and shifted his perception to the spirit realm.

It was a bit overwhelming at first. He was using senses he didn't normally use and a hospital was not the most peaceful place to enter the spirit realm. The room was less represented by it's physical nature than it is by it's energy flow. Joy, sorrow, and relief were nearly tangible ribbons he could reach out and touch. There was a slightly confused recently departed soul wandering nearby. Little helper and parasite spirits were running and floating around. They were like the Japanese Kami in an anime he watched once about a girl who became a god. It was astoundingly crowded for a small town hospital, but maybe he shouldn't have been surprised with all of the supernatural activity around Beacon Hills.

On the bed in front of him he saw Isaac. There was clearly something wrong with him, but Stiles cannot see what it was. There was a darkness pulling him down, but it was nothing distinct, at least not yet. If he was more certain he'd think it was actually being obfuscated. There were no demons or parasite spirits leeching off of him and that's what Stiles was most concerned about at that moment.

It was then that he noticed the giant wolf.

Stiles saw her and didn't understand how he could have missed her before this moment. She was a gigantic silver wolf whose coat shimmered with an opalescent sheen. Her aura radiated into him and impacted everything around her.

"Clarissa?"

Normally she filled Stiles with feelings of safety and love, but now she was radiating fear. She was pacing around Isaac's bed, yipping and obviously upset. He wished she could speak to him, explain exactly what was going on. Normally she would lead him or comfort him. She turned to Stiles and looked right at him. She barked, not an angry bark, but a pleading bark.

She howled a long mournful howl and Stiles could hear other wolf spirits answer her in the distance.

The unearthly sound froze Stiles to his core. He immediately shifted his perception back to the physical world. He felt ice cold and was trembling. He turned to the nurse closest to him and grabbed her arm.

"Find the head nurse and tell her that I'm putting the entire hospital under a Level Two quarantine now."

 


	4. Chapter 4

Logically Stiles knew what he'd be facing after he finished Isaac's surgery, but that still did not prepare him for the madness that was the emergency room once he finished scrubbing out. People shouting, people crying, and a lot of running around. Janice, the head nurse on shift motioned him over.

"We've shut down the hospital and directed all of the ambulances downtown to General. All of the werewolves are isolated from each other. All of them except Mr. Lahey are still healing after their cut tests. No one has gone in or out of the hospital since we started. And the director has been calling every five minutes demanding why you've put the entire hospital under quarantine."

"You told him right?" asked Stiles.

"I did, but I think he wants to hear it from you," she said with a look that was not at all comforting.

A man walked into the ER wearing a biohazard suit. From across the room Stiles could tell that angry walk belongs to the hospital director.

"You're here one month, _one month_! And you're already causing an emergency."

"Why don't you think of it as I'm stopping an epidemic before it spreads," said Stiles with a nervous smile.

The director was not amused.

"Why the hell are you quarantining the entire hospital? Why not just put the infected werewolves in quarantine?"

Stiles does not like his tone with which he said 'werewolves'.

"The infected patients sat in the ER for four hours, one with a giant open chest wound. We don't know how this spreads or if humans can catch it or carry it. When asked by the review board should I say 'I dropped the quarantine because the director felt it was bad for business?"

That did not help his position with the director any if the look on his face was any indication. Stiles could not tell him why he knew, because Stiles shouldn't be able to know what he knows and he's not sure it would matter to the director even if he did tell him.

"Obviously not, but one sick werewolf does not an epidemic make!"

The young nurse that walked up to the two of them looked a little scared to be interrupting their exchange.

"Doctor? Ms. Reyes just failed her last cut test. She's no longer healing."

"Two werewolves no longer healing," said Stiles.

"Shit!" said the director, holding his forehead through the biohazard suit.

"I got a list of every person she's had contact with in the last week with emphasis on werewolves," said the nurse.

"Who's their Alpha?" asked the director.

"Alpha Hale," replied the nurse.

"There's three Alpha Hales. You're going to have to be more specific than that," said Stiles.

She checked her clipboard. "Derek Hale."

Of course it was. Stiles was not looking forward to that phone call.

"What about the other one's list?" asked the director.

"I just finished surgery, he's not awake yet," said Stiles. He turned to the nurse. "Get a clerk to start calling every werewolf on her list and bring them in for testing."

"We'll need to isolate and test them as well," said the director. "This is gonna turn into one serious shit-storm isn't it?"

Stiles really couldn't say.

"Fuck. I'll call the DCDC," said the director as he walked away.

Stiles went to the isolation rooms that Erica and Isaac were in. Isaac was still unconscious, but Erica was up and agitated. She paced and moved around the room like she was wanting to hit something. Scott was good about using his words, but Stiles knew most werewolves expressed themselves more physically.

Stiles walked up to the intercom and turned it on.

"Hey Erica."

She walked over toward the window.

"Hi Doctor Stilinski."

"Just call me Stiles. I've known your Alpha since I was born."

"Stiles...what's happening to us?"

"I don't know yet," said Stiles. "But I'll find out and I'll stop it. I promise you."

Erica's eyes started to get wet even as she shifted into a stance that said she was ready to fight.

"Scott says you're the best werewolf doctor in the world."

Stiles smiled just a little.

"I'm trying to be."

"Derek says it too."

That was not something Stiles expected to hear. He wasn't sure what to think of that. He didn't imagine Derek ever speaking about him to anyone.

"Erica, I want to try something. Could you gently lift up the end of the hospital bed?"

She gives him a half-Hale eyebrow raise before walking over to the bed and lifting it with some effort.

"This is tough," said Erica with a grunt.

"You can put it down."

She does and then comes over to the window.

"What was that for?" Erica asked.

"A human woman your size couldn't have lifted that, but normally it would have been much easier right?"

"It would have been no problem. Normally I can lift cars."

"Okay, try shifting."

Erica slowly shifts, but it's obviously a struggle for her. By the time she's done she's breathing heavily.

"You can shift back now," said Stiles. "On a scale of one to ten with one being no problems or pain while shifting and ten being so difficult and painful to shift that you can't do it, how hard is it to shift normally?"

"Maybe a two or three," Erica replied, worry tightening her face. "But it's a good pain like a deep massage."

"And how hard was it just now?" asked Stiles.

"About a five and not good pain," she said. "What's happening Stiles?"

"Not sure yet, but I think whatever it is might be attacking your werewolf nature. Maybe the worst it will do is make you human until we can cure it."

Erica blanched at that.

"I can't be human," said Erica softly. "Don't let it make me human."

Stiles went to find Peggy, a nurse who was working the quarantine that was a friend of his mother and Melissa, who he knew he could trust.

"Hey Peggy," Stiles said pulling her aside. "I need you to take a couple of vials of blood from Lahey and Reyes and discretely send it to this address by morning."

Peggy looked at the slip of paper he handed her.

"The Berkeley Virology lab?" she asked.

"They're not approved for this by the DCDC, but I have a friend there that's amazing."

"Shit. DCDC is coming? I know Carl in medical transport," said Peggy with a wink. "He'll keep it off the books."

"Thanks Peggy."

It was in the middle of the night. Despite having nothing to do but wait for tests, Stiles wasn't quite ready to sleep. He decided to put on a biohazard suit and go out and help interview werewolves that were possibly infected.

There was about a dozen people who were waiting to be checked and interviewed, but when Stiles saw one his heart sank.

"Scott?"

Scott turned and his face went from concerned to fear when he saw Stiles in the biohazard suit. Being the True Alpha meant lots of werewolves orbited around Scott, it only made sense that he would have been in contact with Isaac and Erica at some point in the last two weeks. Stiles quickly moved to him and Scott enveloped him in a hug.

"Stiles, what's going on?"

Stiles couldn't feel the warmth of Scott's body through the biohazard suit and for some reason that nearly brought him to tears.

"Sit down buddy," said Stiles gesturing back into one of the makeshift exam room they'd set up outside. They made their way in and sat down. "There is possibly an infection that affects werewolves and one of the people infected said they had contact with you so I just need to talk to you about that and test to see if you're infected."

"Okay," Scott said while nodding solemnly.

"Have you had any contact with Erica Reyes in the last two weeks and if so how recently?"

"Erica? I saw her for a bit five days ago."

"Did you have any intimate contact with Erica?"

"What's intimate?" asked Scott.

"Was there any kind of bodily fluid exchange? Did you kiss her or have sex with her?" asked Stiles.

"No."

"Did you touch her in any way or maybe drink out of the same cup or use the same spoon? Anything like that?"

"No," Scott said. "Nothing like that."

"Have you had any contact with Isaac Lahey in the last two weeks and if so how recently?"

Scott's face went very still. There was a pained expression in his eyes.

"Isaac?"

"Yeah, Isaac," said Stiles, unsure where Scott's mood came from. "You're friends with him right?"

"Yeah," said Scott. "I last saw him in the morning, the day before yesterday."

Stiles felt himself start to chill despite how warm he was inside the biohazard suit.

"Did you touch him or drink from the same cup or anything?" said Stiles feeling his voice get lower.

"Where is Isaac? Is Isaac alright?" asked Scott, suddenly fearful.

Stiles wasn't sure where Scott's panic was coming from. Naturally Scott was more concerned about Isaac than himself. He's always been selfless.

"I can't tell you because of patient confidentiality, you're not family or his Alpha," said Stiles who was becoming overwhelmed with his own worry. " Did you touch his hand or hug him?"

"Yes, all of that," said Scott. "Can I see him?"

"What kind of contact did you have with Isaac? Did you guys train together that morning?"

"No, I stayed the night."

"You crashed at his place?"

Scott leveled Stiles with his serious look that meant Scott felt he was delivering bad news.

"I stayed with him, in his bed...and there was a lot of 'fluid exchange' that happened."

For a genius, Stiles was having a big problem fitting together what he just heard and everything he's known about Scott.

"You...and Isaac...did this just sort of happen? Is this the first time?"

"No, this happens two to three times a week...and has for a couple months."

"You and Isaac...?"

Stiles tried to find a way to articulate with his fingers what he couldn't seem to articulate with his mouth.

"We've been..." said Scott looking away. "I'm not sure what we've been, but I think I love him."

"Why...why didn't you tell me?" asked Stiles.

"You've been so busy," said Scott. "You're always so busy it just didn't seem like the time."

"I didn't even know you were dating guys," said Stiles feeling suddenly disconnected from the entire world.

"I'm not or I wasn't," said Scott. "It's just him. I just love him. I think Isaac might be the one."

Stiles was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. He'd been so self absorbed that his best friend, his brother, hadn't told him about something so significant in his life. It hurt and he felt bad. He was also terrified that Scott was most likely infected.

"I'm going to have to put you in quarantine Scott."

Scott's face was tense, but he nodded. "Okay."

Stiles turned to call a nurse, but one was already walking up to him.

"Hi, we need to put Scott here into the level two quarantine, if you can put him in the room next to Isaac Lahey."

"Of course," the nurse said nodding. "I have something you need to see."

She lifted the top paper on the clip board to reveal a handwritten note underneath that read ' _Third werewolf failed the cut test._ _Vernon_ _Boyd. Erica Reyes' fiance and Isaac Lahey's roommate. Also Derek Hale's pack._ '

Stiles schooled his face and nodded to her. He knew Scott could hear his heartbeat and he really wished he had spent five minutes hiding in the on-call room so he could cast that spell to mask his heartbeat and scent so every werewolf wouldn't know when he was hiding something.

Stiles was about to accompany Scott to the level two quarantine when he heard a crash back toward the entrance of the screening area. There he saw Derek raging at the hospital staff.

"Let me see Isaac and Erica!" shouted Derek.

"Stay!" Stiles ordered Scott.

Stiles quickly crossed over toward the commotion.

"Move out of my way or I will move you!" yelled Derek at a poor orderly and nurse who were trying to do their job. His eyes were red and he was bearing his fangs.

"Derek calm down and let us do our jobs," replied Stiles as calmly as possible.

"Fuck you! I want to see them right now!"

Derek pushed through the nurse and the orderly who looked fearful of renewing their attempt to get in the way of an Alpha werewolf. Stiles stepped right into his path.

"Derek Hale I will call your mother right now, do you hear me!?!" Stiles shouted right in Derek's face. Derek rocked backward as if he'd been slapped. He looked at Stiles as if he suddenly noticed him and hadn't before. The fight drained out of him.

"I..." Derek said, but never finished the sentence. He now wouldn't meet Stiles' eyes. His fangs receded and the red left his eyes.

"We're doing everything we can, you'll only get in the way," said Stiles in a much calmer voice than he felt. "Now sit down and let the nurse process you. We will probably have to put you in quarantine until we find out if you're infected or not. Understand?"

"Okay...yeah," said Derek, letting Stiles lead him by the arm toward one of the interview booths. He looked so defeated that Stiles wanted to hug him and hold him until he could somehow make it better.

"Who is in charge around here?" boomed a woman's voice.

Stiles turned to see a terrifying woman standing at the entrance with a group of people in biohazard suits. A nurse pointed a shaky finger in his direction. She strode toward him and Stiles decide to meet her halfway as much as he wanted to beat a hasty retreat back into the hospital.

"Doctor Kali, DCDC," announced the woman.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The DCDC is the Division of Communicable Disease Control. It's similar to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), but California specific.


	5. Chapter 5

"McCall shows no symptoms and neither do any of the other werewolves outside of the core three patients. From this we have determined that the infectious period while the patient is asymptomatic is probably only a few hours," said Doctor Kali. "From what we can tell it does not seem to be transmittable by humans. It is the opinion of the DCDC that the infection has been contained by Doctor Stilinski's swift actions and the hospital can be reopened."

"The staff of Beacon Memorial agrees," said the hospital director while keeping his eyes on Stiles.

This was not news to any of the assembled doctors in the room. No one was wearing biohazard suits anymore. The meeting was just to make it official.

"Okay then, the general quarantine is over and the hospital is open for business," said the director. "Thanks everyone."

Stiles hurried out of the room to tell Scott and Derek, but Kali caught him in the hallway and pulled him aside before he could get away.

"Doctor Stilinski, the CDC and Homeland Security are still on standby over this."

"I'm aware," said Stiles. He'd read one of the articles she'd written a few years back and her unlikable nature had come through even in an academic paper. After spending two days with her he was not surprised why.

"Every member of Derek Hale's pack gets infected? Derek Hale whose testimony sentenced Kate Argent to death and turned the rest of the Argents into fugitives. You think that's a coincidence?"

"I'm hoping it is," said Stiles. "But we have no proof or leads otherwise."

Stiles didn't think it was a coincidence, but really did not want the CDC and Homeland Security taking this over. He might get pushed off the case. Isaac, Erica, and Boyd might get transported to Sacramento or even out of state. Scott and Derek would lose their minds if that happened.

The non-infected werewolves still hadn't been processed and released from quarantine by the time Stiles got there. Scott had pushed his bed as close as he could to the window between he and Isaac's rooms. He had spent much of the time pressed up against the glass, trying to get as close to Isaac as possible. Stiles knew how tactile Scott was, so not getting to touch Isaac must have been driving him crazy. Isaac had woken up the day after his surgery. He had been dopey and cute, though Stiles wasn't sure if that's how he always was or if that was just the morphine, which Isaac made a point of telling Stiles he liked every time he came by to check on him.

The lifting of the general quarantine must have been announced because Melissa McCall burst through the doors at the end of the hallway, frantic until she found her son.

"Scott!"

"Hi mom, I'm fine," Scott said with a wave, though she was not satisfied until his isolation room was unlocked and she could wrap her arms around him.

"I want to join the quarantine team," Melissa told Stiles.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem."

She turned to Scott. "I'll keep an eye on him when you're at home."

"I'm not leaving him," said Scott.

"I'll be here," said Derek from behind Stiles. He hadn't noticed Derek approach.

"You should also go home and get some rest," said Stiles turning to him. "Which I'm ordering as your doctor."

"And I'm respectfully ignoring," said Derek firmly.

Stiles thought about trying to out-stubborn Derek or pull out the mom card again, but he'd barely slept in three days and didn't have any fight left.

"Then I should stay too," said Scott.

"If you don't go home, shower, and eat some decent food I will officially ban you from the hospital for two days," Stiles told him.

"Can he do that?" Scott asked turning to his mother.

Melissa knew better than to try to lie to a werewolf so she just fixed Scott with a hard glare.

"I'll be fine Scott," said Isaac. "Don't worry about me. I'll have Derek and Melissa."

"Okay," said Scott putting his hand up on the glass of Isaac's room. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Stop by my place," said Stiles. "I'm heading there myself and you know my mom will feed you breakfast."

Scott actually beat Stiles home which shouldn't have surprised him with all of the last minute paperwork he had to do. He let his mother worry over him for a while, but then excused himself to get some books from his bedroom. Once back in the kitchen he went to the closet he and his mother referred to as the "magic pantry" and pulled out some herbs and other ingredients. He started working on the potion even as he ate the breakfast his mother put in front of him.

"Stiles? He's going to be alright, isn't he?" asked Scott as he was getting up to leave.

"Sure he is," said Stiles knowing that the spell that masked his lying heart was still in place.

Once Scott left Stiles filled his flask with the potion and bottled the rest after taking a swig.

"I'm gonna get a couple of hours sleep before I head back to the hospital."

"You need to get more sleep than that," his mother scolded.

"This potion gives me eight hours of rest for two hours of sleep," said Stiles. "I couldn't have gotten through grad school without it."

"Stiles," said his mother grasping his arm and pulling him close to hold him and kiss him on the cheek. "Sometimes the caregiver forgets to take care of themselves."

"Mommmm...! I'm a physically and somewhat mentally healthy young man. This body was meant to take abuse."

Of course with all the sleep he'd missed in the last three days, getting eight hours of rest wasn't nearly enough. He showered and shaved, packed any books he might have needed into his bag, and headed downstairs to leave. His mother was waiting with a basket of muffins.

"What's that for?" asked Stiles.

"I hear that Derek hasn't left the hospital," said his mother holding the basket out to him. "It would be nice if you brought him breakfast."

"That is odd, but sweet of you," said Stiles, not sure where this was coming from. "But we need to lose the basket. Put them in a paper bag or something, no need to humiliate him when he's already feeling down."

"Fine," said his mother, finding an appropriately masculine paper bag.

Stiles also knew that Derek did not need two dozen muffins. Once he snuck past the news crews outside he gave a few away to the nurses in the ER and one to Melissa who was in the isolation ward. Derek seemed to have nodded off in his chair. When Stiles walked up he saw that Erica and Boyd were both sitting on the floor by the glass doors of their individual isolation rooms talking to each other, though it was too low for Stiles' human ears. He was just going to leave the muffins next to Derek, but his eyes popped open and zeroed in on Stiles the second he got close.

"I brought you breakfast," said Stiles, handing him the bag. "My mom made them so if you hate them don't say it within earshot of her."

Derek gave him a look that he could not read, but he quietly said "Thanks".

Stiles spent much of the rest of the day checking both medical and magical texts, searching the Internet, and checking in on his patients. Erica started having seizures, apparently she was an epileptic before she was bitten. Stiles tried magical tests on them to see if he could find anything, but the darkness related to the virus remained inscrutable. Scott returned of course, and he and Isaac talked until Isaac got sleepy and napped. Then Scott just sat there, moped, and watched Isaac while he slept. Some members of Scott's pack come by to try and be supportive to their Alpha. Stiles doesn't know them well and now felt himself full of guilt for how much he hadn't involved himself in his best friend's life.

Once he'd exhausted every conventional and magical test he could do on his end, Stiles called his pal Franky at Berkeley.

"Tell me some good news," said Stiles.

"Sorry man, nothing yet," replied Frankie.

"I thought you were best virologist on the West Coast?"

"I'm the best virologist in America, but it's like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"It didn't help that I told you that it probably only targeted werewolves?"

"And that's why it's like searching for a needle in a haystack instead of a field full of haystacks. If I don't know anything about the virus, it's gonna take time. A lot of time."

Stiles was just hanging up when he saw Melissa in his office doorway wrinkling her brow in a way that was all too familiar: There was trouble.

"Isaac just spiked a 102 degree fever. Also his diastolic pressure is up to 110."

Stiles followed her back to the isolation units and got suited up. Scott and Derek look almost relaxed until they saw him. He got inside before they could ask any questions.

"How you feeling Isaac?"

"Like crap."

Stiles peeled back the bandage to check Isaac's stitches. They were fine. No infection.

"Can you describe the crap?"

"I'm hot and my bones hurt...and my stomach feels like it's burning."

"Burning huh?"

Stiles felt around Isaac's stomach, but nothing felt off. He wrote a note on Melissa's clipboard to do a white cell count hourly. She nodded in understanding. There were werewolves on the other side of the glass with prying ears.

"Melissa is gonna take some more blood if you have any left and I'm going to give you a little something for that fever okay?"

"I want Scott."

"I'm sorry buddy, that's something I can't give you right now."

"I'm right here Isaac! I'm right here! I'm not leaving!" shouted Scott through the glass.

Great. Stiles rolled his eyes. He wouldn't be getting Scott to go home and rest anytime soon.

Stiles fielded questions from both Derek and Scott until they were convinced that he didn't know more than they do. He then reminded them that once visiting hours are over they were back out in the lobby, hoping that would convince them to go home for at least a few hours. He didn't hold out much hope however. He was passing by the nurses station when the nurse behind the desk told him he had a call waiting.

"This is Doctor Stilinski."

"Doctor Stilinski? Stiles Stilinski?" a woman asked.

"Who is this? If this is the press I have no comment at this time."

"This is...this is Allison Argent. Or it was until my adoptive parents changed my name."

Stiles' blood ran cold.

"Do you remember me?" she asked. "We used to go to school together as kids. I used to have a crush on Scott. Are you still friends with him?"

"What do you want Allison?"

"I want...to help," she said. "I saw what was happening on the news and I want to help."

Stiles wondered if he should write a note to the nurse who was currently ignoring him to call the police and have them trace the call. He decided against it.

"How do you think you can help?"

"I found some documents of my family's, some of it looked medical and some of it looked like DNA information. Like you see on movies. I'm worried it might be weapons."

"Weapons?"

"Biological weapons."

That's what Stiles was afraid she was going to say.

"Why don't you take this to the police or the FBI?" asks Stiles.

"Because if I do they'll ask me where I got it and then they might hold me indefinitely. I'd rather not get the police involved."

"Where did you get it from?"

"I remembered a cabin that my family used to go to when I was a kid, a place that the government didn't seize after my family...did what they did," said Allison. "A few years ago I went searching for it and after a few days I found it. There was a bunch of stuff in there, hunter stuff, but also this hard drive with all kinds of information including the files I told you about."

"Email them to me."

"I think they're too big to fit in an email, besides I know that they can trace stuff back to your computer and I don't know enough about computers to hide my tracks. I'm going to have to give it to you in person."

Stiles looked over at Scott pressed longingly against the glass of Isaac's isolation room and his mind was made up before he realized it.

"Tell me where to meet you."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles realized that meeting Allison Argent at an abandoned restaurant two hours away from his home was not the smartest or safest thing he could have been doing with his night. He had stopped by home to pick up a few tricks to help him defend himself, but he wouldn't be able to stand up to a group of hunters. If she was lying, and he had no method available to him to tell, he could be dead in half an hour. If she's not...the information she's carrying could not only help him greatly in trying to save Derek's pack, but could give them an arsenal of information about any other biological weapon the Argents had developed. The rewards just outweighed the risks.

Stiles took the exit off the freeway and followed the road until he found the turn off for the mostly disused highway. After driving about ten minutes without seeing another car Stiles saw what must be the abandoned restaurant and pulled into the parking lot.

He turned off his car leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the area. He sat there for a moment before he decided to turn his headlights back on and step out of the car. He was already five steps away from the car before he realized that he should have texted Scott where he was before he got out of the car. He'd be too late to interrupt, but maybe not too late should this turn bad. He didn't want to do it at that moment because he didn't want to scare Allison off. He grabbed the spell totems he had in the pocket of his jacket in case he needed to defend himself.

"Allison?" he called before taking a few more steps out. "You here?"

"You alone?" said a voice and Stiles looked over to see someone dimly illuminated by the light of the moon coming around the other side of the building.

"I'm alone," he said. "You?"

"Yes," she said getting close enough that he could start to make out her features. He started to walk toward her, but she stopped so he did as well.

"How have you been Stiles?"

"Worried near to death that I'm going to fail to save the lives of three people, how are you?"

Allison laughed a little and smiled at that. "Well...if we're going to be perfectly honest, I live every day with a guilt clenching my heart for something that my family did when I was eleven."

Stiles then realized that maybe the headlights were a bad idea, because it made it hard for him to see anything that wasn't illuminated by them. There could be a hunter standing across the parking lot and he wouldn't see them. Going back and shutting them off might have spooked Allison so he decided to just move forward and hope for the best.

"Hopefully what you've brought me can save some lives and both of us can feel better," Stiles said to her and started to walk forward. "Then maybe we can both feel better."

Allison holds up a box and starts walking toward him. "I hope this does some good."

Suddenly Derek came from out of nowhere and grabbed Allison from behind, his claws at her throat. Stiles fell backward on the ground in surprise. Allison could only gasp in shock.

"Derek what are you..." sputters Stiles.

"Put it down on the ground slowly! Stiles you get back!"

"Derek...?"

"Stiles that could be a bomb, will you please get back?"

A bomb was not something he'd thought of. He started to back up.

"I would never hurt Stiles!" cried Allison.

"Your family said they'd stopped hunting and would never hurt anyone, but then they murdered half my family didn't they?"

Allison was terrified, but she slowly lowered herself to the ground with Derek guiding her down and gently put the hard drive on the ground.

"Now you're going to lie down on the ground and if you try to get up and run I will rip your throat out before you get three steps."

Allison slowly lowered herself the rest of the way down until she was face down on the ground.

"Derek she might be innocent," implored Stiles.

"And she might be trying to kill the only doctor who could stop this thing,"

"I'm..."

"You are."

Derek picked up the hard drive and sniffed all around it.

"I don't smell anything, but I need to be sure," said Derek. "Do you have a screwdriver in your jeep?"

Stiles hurried back to the jeep, found his tools, and hurried back to them.

"Don't get any closer Stiles!" barked Derek, holding up a hand. "Throw it here."

Stiles did and Derek snatched it out of the air. He started taking the drive case apart.

"Don't damage it," said Stiles.

"I know what I'm doing," replied Derek not looking up.

"You followed me? How did you know what I was doing?" asked Stiles.

"Werewolf hearing Stiles. I overheard your conversation."

Derek opened the case, checked inside, and seemed satisfied.

"Where are you car keys?" Derek ordered gruffly and Stiles had his hand in his jeans before he realized Derek was talking to Allison. Derek took the keys from her. "I'm going to take your keys and leave them in the middle of the road about a quarter mile down. You are to wait here for five minutes before getting up. If I see you before that I will come after you, do you understand?"

"Yes," said Allison.

"I'm sorry about this Allison," said Stiles. "I really didn't know."

"Stiles get in your car and start the engine," ordered Derek and Stiles decided that listening to him was best and did as he was told for once. Once his car was started Derek followed him and got in the passenger seat.

"My car's about a quarter mile back if you don't mind dropping me off," said Derek.

"I had that under control," said Stiles as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"You really didn't," said Derek. "But I did so we don't have to worry."

Stiles wanted to protest, but decided against it. He saw Derek's car on the side of the road and stopped nearby.

"I'm following you back in case something happens," said Derek. Stiles couldn't help but feel warm from Derek's protective behavior. He knew it was because of him being Derek's pack's best hope to live, but it still made him feel cared for.

"I'm going to stop by my house and then head to the hospital," Stiles told him.

Derek nodded and closed the door before walking to his car. Stiles plugged the power converter he'd gotten from his dad's garage into the cigarette lighter and then plugged his laptop and the hard drive into it. He then started transferring the files from the hard drive to his computer. By the time he was done, Derek had pulled out and was behind him so Stiles started down the road. He then pulled out his cell phone and searched for a number.

"Hey Danny? It's Stiles. Yeah, we haven't talked for a while and yes, I do need a favor, but it's possibly one of those save the world scenarios. You've seen the news huh? Yeah...I'm gonna need some online data storage and I'm gonna need some encryption on it that's so strong the NSA and Homeland Security can't crack it. Who am I hiding this from? Uh...the NSA and Homeland Security? Yeah...and can you do it in two hours? You can do it in an hour? You're the best Danny, I owe you a month's worth of dinners. Send me the details when it's ready."

Once Stiles got back on the freeway he made one more call to the hospital.

"Stiles?" said Melissa. "It's not good. We've got Isaac packed down with ice to try and control his fever. Erica and Boyd are starting to develop theirs."

"I'll be there in two hours," he said before hanging up and trying to decide how much over the speed limit he can drive before a cop would pull him over.

He pulled into his driveway and Derek parked on the street in front of his house. He was right behind Stiles by the time he'd unlocked the front door.

"Is that you Stiles?" called his mother as she turned the corner. "Oh! Derek! I wasn't expecting you."

"We're just here for a few minutes then we're heading back to the hospital," Stiles told her while running up to his room with Derek in tow.

Once inside his room Stiles started going over the information that had been on the drive. Danny had come through and every time Stiles found something that might have to do with anything biological he dropped it onto the encrypted cloud drive.

Stiles' mother followed them into his room a few minutes later with two heaping plates of food.

"I didn't know if you boys have had dinner yet so I brought you a little something," said Claudia.

"Thank you Mrs. Stilinski," said Derek.

Stiles eyed her suspiciously. She never brought him food, especially not to eat in his room.

"Thanks mom..."

"What are you two doing?" asked Claudia.

"I can't tell you in case Homeland Security does an inquiry," said Stiles turning back to his work.

The smile slowly slid off of Claudia's face.

"You're not kidding are you?" she said. Claudia turned and headed to the door. "I'll be downstairs hitting the scotch if you need me."

Once Stiles was done dragging and dropping, he left his laptop to continue the transfer and grabbed the hard drive. He and Derek dropped their empty plates off in the kitchen and said goodbye to his mother who was enjoying some late night television with the aforementioned scotch.

On the drive to the hospital Stiles called Frankie and gave him the information about how to access the files on the encrypted cloud drive as well as his primary suspects of which viruses it could be based on the symptoms. Stiles promised to ship him ten pounds of the finest gourmet coffee out of Seattle if he stayed up all night working on it.

"Vivace Frankie, Vivace. The finest coffee there is, none of that Starbucks shit," promised Stiles. Frankie was an academic and he would have done it without the coffee just for the chance to get to author a paper on how he hunted the virus. Stiles thought it was a nice gesture since he was no longer in that world and was making real doctor money unlike Frankie who was still a poor academic.

Once they walked in the waiting room Scott stood up and looked as if he was going to ask something, but after looking back and forth between the two of them a few times he just sat down. Derek tried to follow Stiles into the ICU, but he had to remind Derek that after visiting hours he had to wait in the lobby. Anger flashed across Derek's face, but then he just nodded and went to sit on the couch next to Scott.

"I'll go check on them and let you know how they're doing," Stiles reassured him.

Stiles went back to talk to Melissa, who was manning the nurses station in the isolation rooms. He then went to check in on them himself. Isaac was not doing well and didn't wake when Stiles checked on him. Erica and Boyd were also feverish, but at least could talk to them.

Stiles went out to update Scott and Derek, before heading back to his office to pour over the files in search of anything that would help him. There was some information in the files about werewolves that only could have been acquired by experimenting on them. He got some insight into the devious minds of people who engineer biological weapons, but wasn't any closer to finding a cure. He was sure he would find something, but nothing was coming together all that well for him. He was, understandably, a little worn out after the events of the day.

Around 4am Stiles realized he'd read the medical data twice and wasn't going to be getting any further that night. He walked out into the waiting room. Scott was asleep across a couch with his mouth hanging open, but Derek was awake and looked at Stiles expectantly. Stiles just shook his head at him and then kneeled down to take a photo of Scott with his phone.

"It's for Isaac when he wakes, to cheer him up," said Stiles which managed to get a small smile out of Derek. "Did you sleep at all?"

"No," said Derek with bloodshot eyes.

"C'mon," said Stiles and to his mild surprise Derek got up and followed him without question.

He snuck Derek past the nurse on duty, led him into one of the less used on-call rooms, and locked the door. He gestured to one of the beds for Derek and took the one on the opposite side of the room.

"We can sleep in here undisturbed," said Stiles.

"I can't sleep right now Stiles," said Derek with eyes that were on the verge of tears.

"This will help," said Stiles who produced his flask and leaned across the room to hand it to Derek. "It's a potion that puts you to sleep for two hours, but gives you eight hours worth of rest."

Derek hesitantly took the flask from Stiles and took a swig. Stiles took it back and did the same. They sat on the beds in silence for a few moments.

"I wish there was someone I could punch," said Derek.

"Keep those fists on the other side of the room alright?"

Derek exhaled in a way that spoke much to his frustration.

"I can't fight this. I don't know how to fight this," said Derek. "They're dying and I can't...do anything."

Stiles wasn't sure why, but he found himself crossing the room to where Derek was sitting and putting his hands on Derek's shoulders reassuringly. Derek deflated at his touch and his head slumped forward against Stiles' stomach. Stiles pulled him closer, his hand finding the back of Derek's neck. Stiles was a tad worried he misread the situation until he felt Derek's arms reach around the small of his back and squeeze him back.

"I can't lose them Stiles. I can't go on if I lose them."

"You're not going to lose them. We're so close okay?"

The last thing Stiles remembered was standing there with his arms around Derek before he fell asleep.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Stiles woke up to find himself tangled around Derek Hale's body. He most definitely had his face nuzzled into the space between Derek's chin and his chest. Derek had one arm around him and one splayed out, while Stiles had somehow wrapped both of his legs around one of Derek's. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but Stiles was really enjoying the warmth of Derek's body next to his, even if Derek obviously hadn't showered in a few days.

Stiles would have stayed that way if his phone hadn't started to ring. He extricated himself from Derek, hoping not to wake him and answered his phone.

"Stiles!"

"What have you got Frankie?"

"I found our bug, it's a deadly influenza strain that has been targeted so it only effects werewolves.

"That was fast," said Stiles.

"I've got a whole rack of Oxford Nanopores," said Frankie. "Fastest genetic sequencers around!"

"I love you man," said Stiles.

"Here's the thing Stiles, just because it's targeting them, there's nothing that indicates that a werewolf's immune system wouldn't just wipe this thing out. As far as I can tell, it shouldn't be effecting them at all."

Stiles had a sinking feeling he knew why it was happening.

"There's a common antiviral called Ritnovir that works on the human version so should it should knock this thing out."

"Thanks Frankie, I'm gonna give it a try," said Stiles before hanging up.

Derek was just starting to wake up. He looked at Stiles bleary eyed from where he lay. Under any other circumstances Stiles would want to crawl right back in bed with him. It had been so long since someone had held him like that, since he'd actually slept with someone. And here was handsome Derek Hale probably completely unaware he'd spent the last couple of hours with his arms around Stiles.

"What's goin' on?" asked Derek , rubbing at his eye.

"I have to get back to work, you sleep some more."

Derek had gotten himself up to a sitting position by the time Stiles had gotten his shoes on and was at the door.

"Derek sleep."

"Can't."

"Visiting hours haven't started yet so it's either sleep in here or sit out in the waiting room."

"Fine," said Derek which Stiles initially took to mean he was going to sleep, but then Derek got up and followed him out. Stiles led him back to the waiting room before sneaking back to his office to call Kali. He thought he'd get her voicemail so early in the morning, but she picked up immediately.

"Hey Doctor Kali, Stiles Stilinski at Beacon General. We've found the virus and it's a weapon. Call the CDC and Homeland Security."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Positive. Someone formerly close to the Argents gave me a hard drive that has the DNA profiles of several biological weapons they've developed."

"Holy shit."

Stiles was a little surprised by her language, but he understood the sentiment.

"I'll make the calls and be there ASAP," said Kali before hanging up the phone.

From his desk computer Stiles prescribed the antiviral drug for Isaac, Erica, and Boyd putting a priority order on it to be administered ASAP. Stiles fidgeted, but he knew there was nothing else he could do. The coffee cart wouldn't have open for another hour and the cafeteria for two so Stiles thought to invite Derek for a light breakfast out of the vending machines.

He didn't get the chance however because Dr. Kali was strolling through the front doors right as he got to the waiting room by the 24 hour entrance.

"Dr. Stilinski!"

Breakfast would have to wait.

"You made it here awfully quickly from Sacramento Dr. Kali," said Stiles.

"I've been staying in a hotel since this all started," said Kali. "Can I see the files?"

"Yes."

"You know Homeland will probably take them away from you when they get here right?"

"Yes."

"And you've made backups?" she asked.

"Multiple," he said handing her a flash drive.

"Good. I don't want them keeping them away from us just because the Feds don't feel we've been vetted enough for them," Kali said with a glint in her eye and a not insignificant sneer.

Stiles wanted to savor this small moment of bonding with his abrasive colleague, but an alarm started to go off at the nurse's station.

"We've got a code in ISO!"

Stiles instinct should have been to run toward the isolation unit, but instead he turned toward Derek who was red eyed, shifted past his Beta form on his way to Alpha, and already tearing across the room knocking down everything and everyone in his path.

As Stiles had gotten to know him over the last few weeks, he'd realized that despite the gruff silent exterior, Derek was a very emotional person. After the first time when Stiles had to intervene, he knew there might come a time when threatening to call Derek's mother would not stop him in his tracks. He had prepared the spell ahead of time so that it only took a thought to trigger the Power Word spell.

"Submit!"

Stiles' voice reverberated throughout the room as everyone was shocked silent. Derek dropped to his knees, arms to his sides with palms up, and chin down to his chest. He shifted back to human form before his ass hit the floor and he skidded to a stop.

Kali found herself in a similar position, as did a few humans that Stiles suspected have some recessive werewolf DNA. Even Scott had rolled off the couch where he was sleeping and was face down on the floor dazed. Stiles walked over to where Derek was kneeling in supplication.

"Derek you are going to sit in this waiting room and quietly behave while the hardworking people of this hospital do their job of trying to save your pack's lives do you understand?"

"Yes," said Derek, the word coming out a whisper.

"Good," said Stiles looking up to notice that every eye on the room is on him. "Everyone else go back to what you were doing. Dr. Kali come with me."

Stiles then proceeded to run as fast as he could to the Isolation unit. Something inside him told him it was Isaac. It would take minutes to get the suits on, but he needn't have worried because by the time he got there Melissa and the other nurses had gotten Isaac's heart going again. He went right for the intercom.

"Is this a reaction to the antivirals?"

"No," said Melissa. "They haven't even come down from the pharmacy yet."

Stiles walked toward the sterilization room to change. Kali finally spoke.

"What was that you did?"

"It's a spell. One I altered to only affect werewolves." Stiles replied.

"Awfully powerful one if it can overpower the will of an Alpha werewolf. I didn't think you were that strong."

"I'm not...officially."

Once he has checked on Derek's pack, he went out to the lobby and saw Derek sitting there meekly pulled into himself, his head dropped down in shame. Stiles realized he was not yet ready to face Derek, so he called Laura instead.

"Hey Laura, Derek's been here about four days at this point. Do you think you could bring him down a change of clothes when you come into the office today?"

"Oh god, does he reek?" asked Laura. "Do you want me to drag him out of there?"

"No, just bring him some spare clothes okay? I'll let him shower in one of the staff rooms."

Stiles sat himself outside of Isolation, closed his eyes, and shifted his perception to the spirit realm. The sounds of the wolf spirits howling drowned out everything else. He looked at Isaac, but only saw the same black miasma he did before.

The CDC and Homeland Security descended on the hospital about an hour later. They make a big show, locked down the hospital for a couple of hours, and confiscated the hard drive telling Stiles and Kali that they would give it them back to them once they had cleared that none of it was a threat to national security. Stiles quietly submitted at first, but when he saw Kali kicking up a fuss he did the same. Didn't want to make it too obvious they made copies. When Deaton got in he did the same and it caused enough of an uproar around the hospital that they packed up soon and left, the CDC promising they'd do everything they could.

The one good thing that comes from calling the Feds was that the CDC did send over a mage doctor whose specialty was diagnostics. He went over Isaac, Erica, and Boyd extensively and with many impressive looking artifacts. The downside was that he couldn't tell Stiles any more than what he'd already known. Definitely magic involved, but unable to determine what spell was used or even what type.

Stiles and Kali started to pour over the notes, trying to see if they could find any clue that told them anything about who created the virus. Deaton figured out what they're doing and joined in despite having a limited knowledge of virology. Stiles started to make some connections in his head that he didn't before and he was starting to get a new picture of how the werewolf immune system works. His stomach turned sour and he started feeling a bit short of breath. Kali gave him a look, but he waved her off. He wondered if this was what it was like for the doctors whose research benefited from the Nazi's human experiments. He can't go back and save the people who were experimented on, but he can be sure that something good will come of it.

"To count worms."

"Huh?" asked Stiles.

"To count worms," said Deaton. "It's on old phrase meaning 'to die'. The person who performed the experiments uses that phrase at least three times in these notes."

"I noticed that too," said Kali. "It struck me as odd, but familiar too."

Kali turned back to the tablet she was reading, but was so excited when she got her idea that she flailed in a most un-werewolf like way.

"Stiles! Do you have access to the hospital's online medical journal database on your laptop?" asked Kali excitedly coming around the table to where he was sitting.

"Yes," said Stiles bringing up the database. "What are you thinking?"

"Search for the exact phrase 'to count worms' in all articles that reference werewolves."

Deaton moved to the other side of him just as the two results arrived on the screen.

"Son of a bitch," said Stiles.

"I knew I'd seen it before," said Kali. "Email me those links and I'll forward them to Homeland Security."

"Dennis Fredericks," said Dr. Deaton. "The only expert on werewolf medicine not sitting in this room."


	8. Chapter 8

A nurse came knocking on the conference room door.

"Dr. Stilinki? A Ms. Hale is here to see you?"

"Laura's here? Why didn't she just hand the clothes to Derek? Tell her I'll be right there."

When Stiles got to his office he saw that it was not Laura that was waiting outside his door, but Talia Hale.

"I wasn't expecting to see you Mrs...Talia."

"Hello Stiles, I was wondering if we could talk for a moment?"

"Sure?" he said gesturing her inside of his office.

Once inside, she handed him a grocery bag with Derek's clothes and closes the door. He gestures for her to sit down.

"I heard you used magic this morning to subdue my son."

"I'm sorry, I..."

"Don't be sorry. Derek gets very emotional when people he cares about are involved," said Talia in a carefully measured tone. "What I find interesting is that a spell that powerful should be beyond your capabilities. I also heard that you cast it at a moment's notice, something else a mage at your level of power shouldn't be able to do."

"Well..." said Stiles starting to sweat. He really wished he would have recast the spell to mask his heart rate and scent this morning.

"You put the hospital under quarantine before Erica was even showing symptoms. How did you know that Isaac wasn't just suffering from some trauma that was preventing his healing or perhaps he was under a spell? How did you know it was an infection?"

"How did you know that?"

"Stiles...I'm the most powerful Alpha in North America. I have my sources."

Stiles looked at her and knew lying wasn't an option. It was Talia Hale he was sitting across from.

"One of my spirit guides told me. My wolf spirit guide Clarissa."

"Clarissa?" said Talia looking perplexed.

"I don't know her real name. She doesn't speak to me with words. She's a silver wolf that started appearing to me after Scott got bitten. I named her Clarissa because at the time I was a fan of _Clarissa Explains It All_ and she helped me understand Scott's werewolf nature. I was twelve okay?"

"You're telling me that Nemuria, a werewolf spirit guardian that you shouldn't even be able to see as a human mage, informed you that there was a virus infecting werewolves?"

Now that she said it like that, Stiles had to admit that the evidence was pretty damning.

"Uh...yes?"

"You're powerful Stiles. Very powerful," said Talia. A light went on behind her eyes. "So powerful that if the Mages' Council had known, they would have taken you away from your parents so they could raise you as part of the Inner Circle. But your mother taught you how to hide your magic so they wouldn't take you away. A very sly one your mother...that's probably why we're friends."

"Please don't tell anyone," asked Stiles. "They wouldn't be above yanking me out of this hospital and drafting me even at this age."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't think of it," said Talia. "Can I ask you one question?"

"Shoot."

"What is Nemuria telling you now?"

Stiles got very still and he couldn't look the Alpha in the eye when he spoke.

"She's terrified."

*****

Visiting hours had been going on for a couple of hours, so Stiles knew that he'd find Derek near the isolation rooms. Sure enough there he was with his expression looking somewhere between angry and deeply sad. Stiles wanted to go back to his office and hide out until Derek no longer had that look on his face, but Stiles realized that waiting for Derek's mood to change could be quite some time. He decided to trudge on and face what was coming to him.

"Hi," said Stiles thrusting the bag toward Derek. "Your mom brought you a change of clothes."

"She did?" Derek replied looking at the bag and very deliberately not looking at Stiles.

"I thought you might want to shower and change, I'll show you were there's a staff locker room that's not in use."

Derek started to rise, so Stiles turned and started to lead the way. He took Derek over near Dermatology where he know they didn't use their locker rooms except to grab their coats at the end of the day.

"So," said Stiles after he checked the whole room to be sure that they were the only people in the locker room. "I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for what I did this morning."

Derek's look of surprise was not what he was expecting.

"You're sorry?"

"I know it was a deeply humiliating thing to happen and I'm sorry I did it. You seemed out of control and maybe I overreacted. Probably overreacted."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," said Derek. "I'm the one that should be apologizing to you. I went out of my head and people could have gotten hurt. I feel like an idiot. You did the right thing."

Stiles rummaged around until he found a towel that he handed to Derek.

"So you're not mad at me? I kind of thought you would be mad at me and then the look on your face when I came up to you made me think you were made at me...even though you have that look on your face more often than not. I just thought maybe you and I were in a different place than we used to be and...I dunno what I thought."

Derek took his shirt off and started to undress so Stiles very pointedly turned his head to look the other direction.

"Despite the circumstances, I've really enjoyed spending time with you these last few days," said Derek. "But now I feel like I've ruined...whatever this is...by how I acted."

Stiles felt his face warm up at Derek's words. Stiles thought maybe he was imagining whatever growing connection he was feeling with him so having Derek acknowledge it made this whole situation more intense. Now every word that they exchanged was taking on that much more meaning.

"Would you feel less bad if I told you that I will, at some point in the future, in no uncertain terms, ruin something with how I act?"

Stiles was pretty sure he heard Derek laugh a little behind him.

"Stiles?"

"Yeah?"

"Why werewolf medicine?"

Stiles wasn't sure what he was thinking Derek was going to ask next, but that wasn't it. Mostly he was trying to not think about how Derek was naked behind him.

"I got the idea sometimes after Scott was bitten. I don't know if you remember from when we were kids, but Scott used to be heavily asthmatic."

"You became a werewolf specialist because Scott was bitten?"

"Scott being bitten gave me the idea. I'd grown up around werewolves, but they were all born and not bitten. Growing up you guys were more like cousins than family friends. So after he was bitten my twelve year old self started doing what I do and I began to research lycanthropy. Did you know that werewolves are the only humanoid supernatural being that is native to this dimension? Most are variants of fey, which aren't native to this universe, and vampires are the result of an extra-dimensional virus, but werewolves are a homegrown supernatural. They're a supernatural human."

"I sorta feel insulted by your surprise," said Derek.

Stiles started to turn around to give Derek a withering look, but stopped himself when he remembered how naked Derek might be.

"It's not that I was surprised that you were human dumb-ass. I was surprised that the other humanoid supernaturals aren't. That means that there is a relationship between werewolves and non-were humans that no one has yet thought about exploring in medicine. Obviously we can't have an Alpha bite every person that gets sick, we have enough assholes in this world, imagine if all of them had super strength? But what if we could isolate and just transmit the healing factor? We could create a world without disease."

Derek was silent behind him and Stiles was worried that he had somehow insulted him in some way until he spoke.

"This is about your mother, isn't it?"

It was true what Derek had said, but Stiles had never articulated it out loud so it made the moment seem strange and intimate.

"Her treatment slows it, but there's no cure, magical or conventional," said Stiles. "There will get to be a point where it will get so bad that she'll stop treatment and allow the disease to take it's course."

"You're always trying to take care of the people you love Stiles," said Derek as he walked past Stiles and into the showers.

Stiles knew they were having a moment so he tried not to pervert it by thinking how turned on he was by the sight of Derek Hale walking past him wearing only a towel.

Stiles sat there and waited while Derek cleaned up. He had just heard the shower turn off when he got a text.

"Shit!" said Stiles and rushed the door. "Clean up when you're done!"

"What is it?" asked Derek from the showers.

Stiles thought about ignoring him, but realized it would be wrong.

"Derek you have to promise me you won't wolf out."

Derek whipped around the corner dripping wet in a towel in under two seconds.

"What happened!?!"

"Promise me!" said Stiles pointing a warning finger at him.

"I promise!" growled Derek with no shortage of exasperation.

"Isaac crashed again. I gotta go. When you're done head to the waiting room, we won't be allowing visitors in Isolation until this is over."

"Over?"

"Whatever that ends up meaning Derek. I gotta go," said Stiles letting the door close behind him.

When Stiles got to the Isolation rooms Deaton and Peggy were in Isaac's room, Deaton holding the defibrillator paddles. Scott was screaming to be let into the room while a frightened nurse tried, unsuccessfully, to pull him away. Stiles walked straight up to Scott and slapped him across the face.

"Are you seriously trying to disrupt the people trying to save Isaac's life? Are you? You go out to the waiting room now or I will force you to go and I will put a line of mountain ash across the door to this wing of the hospital."

Scott looked him stunned. That look quickly turned to horrified.

"Go. Now," Stiles ordered as he pointed toward the door.

Scott walked away and once he was gone Stiles hit the intercom.

"What's his status?"

"His breathing is faint and his heartbeat is erratic. He doesn't have long," said Deaton.

"Then we'll put him on a respirator," said Stiles.

"What about his heart?"

"Start prepping him for surgery. I'll put in a pacemaker," said Stiles.

"Maybe..." asked Deaton. "Maybe you're just delaying the inevitable?"

"Look Alan...I can't, not yet."

The nurse who had been trying to move Scott looked back and forth between Stiles and Deaton. Deaton nodded to her and she went off to the nurses station to start Isaac's prep.

Three hours later once he'd thoroughly decontaminated after surgery, Stiles made his way out to the waiting room where Derek and Scott sat. He pulled up a chair to face them.

"I'll let you guys back there in a little while once everything is settled. For now Isaac is on a respirator and I've installed a pacemaker to keep his heartbeat regular," said Stiles. Giving bad news was the hardest part of any doctor's job. Doing it with family? Nearly unbearable.

Derek's stared forward while his face went cold and rigid. Scott started to cry.

"What does that mean?" asked Scott.

Derek answered for him. "It means the machines are keeping him alive."

"You should contact any family he has in case this goes bad before we find a cure," said Stiles.

"He doesn't have any," said Derek.

"He has us," said Scott.

Stiles was heading back towards the Isolation rooms to check on Isaac when Kali stopped him in the hallway with phone in hand.

"They've got Fredericks in custody and, no surprise, they found materials in his house linking him to hunters, including the Argents," said Kali.

"Did they find anything out about the virus?"

"That's all I got. Stiles, I don't know if we're going to hear anything anytime soon," said Kali. "They know we've got the virus contained so they're in no rush to get information back to us. My connection inside Homeland isn't having much luck in getting me more than that."

"I have an idea," said Stiles as he pulled out his phone and called someone he hadn't thought to ask before. "Talia? Stiles. You wouldn't happen to know any werewolves high up in the Department of Homeland Security would you?"

*****

It would be near the end of his shift, if Stiles had any plans on heading home, when he went to the Isolation rooms to check on his patients and the other werewolves in his lives. Derek was standing with Boyd's family who were trying to speak strongly and make brave faces through the windows at him. Scott was parked at his spot as close as he could get to Isaac. Derek squeezed Boyd's mother's shoulder and walked toward Stiles. When he got to him Derek gestured with his head toward the door and Stiles followed him outside.

"I just wanted you to know that I appreciate everything you've done," said Derek after an extended silence. "You've done more than any other doctor would."

"You underestimate other doctors then, but...you and Scott are like family to me."

"Scott says you're pack. He's used to you taking care of him like that. He expects it. Me...I'm not used to anyone outside of my pack taking care of me and mine the way you have. I wanted you to know that I recognize it and appreciate it. It means more to me than you probably know."

"Derek I'll do everything in my power to take care of them...and you," said Stiles reaching out to put a hand on Derek's shoulder.

"I know you will Stiles."

*****

Stiles was glad he was alone in his office when Talia called him back.

"Stiles! My guy at homeland just got back to me. They found the mage who did the spell to fortify the virus," said Talia.

"That's great, did he tell you what kind of spell it is?"

"I wrote it down. It's a Quick-cat-ziplia spell? I can spell it."

"Quicacatzilpia," said Stiles slumping into his chair.

"What does that mean?" asked Talia.

Stiles couldn't help it. He started to cry.

"It means there is no cure."

 


	9. Chapter 9

Stiles anxiously watched from outside the Erica's isolation room as her mother, dressed in a hazmat suit, held Erica while she had a seizure. It was horrible to watch, all of them so helpless to stop any of it from happening. It was still easier than looking at Derek who had become mostly non-responsive. Next to Derek was Laura who was taking her shift being his keeper. Ever since he told Derek to contact Erica and Boyd's families, he'd become incredibly withdrawn. He still wouldn't leave the hospital however.

Scott was just as emotionally wrecked as Derek, but he was expressing it differently. He wouldn't stop crying and Melissa was holding him. Isaac had been in a coma since the last time he crashed. Stiles had avoided checking his brainwaves to see if he was even still there or if it's just the machines keeping him alive. He doubted even with those machines that he had more than a couple of days and he wanted to spare Scott and Derek the ordeal of unplugging him.

He looked at all of the pain in the room and he knew it was because he'd failed them. He wasn't good enough.

He walked nearby Scott who grabbed his hand and pulled him close. He wrapped himself around Scott and Melissa. His face was down in Scott's hair and he could feel Scott's tears soaking through his shirt. Once he'd had enough McCall love, he detached himself from them with his emotional batteries recharged enough to face Derek. He walked over until he was standing in front of Derek. He stood right in his eye line, but he got no reaction that he was there at all.

"I'm sorry Derek, I'm still trying to wrack my brain to think of something. I just want their families to know in case it doesn't turn out in our favor," Stiles said, but got no reaction from Derek. "Maybe the CDC will come up with something before it's too late."

Derek was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"It's my fault."

"How is this possibly your fault?" asked Stiles. Laura winced as if she already knew Derek's answer.

"The Argents have targeted my family for years. I brought them into my pack. They wouldn't be dying right now if I hadn't brought them into my pack."

"You know that's ridiculous right?"

"It's not. And now they're getting me back for testifying against Kate."

"You don't know that Derek. There's a million other reasons."

"I know Stiles. I know."

Laura caught Stiles looking her way and smiled at him. He tried to return it, but found himself unable. He turned away and headed toward his office. He was nearly there when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Stiles!"

Of course it was Laura. He really didn't want to deal with a disappointed Hale looking at him, but he stopped and turned around anyway. She had her serious and concerned look on her face.

"Hey Laura."

"Look...I just want to tell you not to take Derek's behavior personally, he's obviously not in the best place right now."

"I don't blame him for how he's acting Laura. He's doing about as well as anyone could in this situation."

"But he's...Derek's going to need someone to help him get through this. He cares about you Stiles."

"I don't think Derek really wants to see me right now."

"You're wrong. You've gone through this together. Derek knows you've done everything you could to take care of him and his pack. More than anyone else could."

"It didn't amount to much in the end."

"It proved to Derek that you care about him. It proved to him that you are someone that will do everything you can for him."

"It proved to him that I'll fail him."

"Stiles," said Laura, physically turning him so that he was looking right at her. "You've been to hell and back over this."

"Not literally."

"You know what I mean," said Laura. "He might not have said as much, but he cares about you. Derek thinks people only help him out of familial obligation and you've shown him that's not true."

"Uh huh," said Stiles staring off past Laura to the wall behind her.

"Don't you go near comatose on me too. I can't deal with two of you."

"No, I just thought of something. Something that I could try."

"That's good news?"

"Maybe?" said Stiles. "I won't know until I try something. I'll talk to you later."

Stiles walked past her and toward the exit to the hospital with increasing speed.

"Peggy, I need to run home and get some things, page me if anything happens," Stiles said as he rushed past the nurse's station.

Luckily his mother wasn't home so she couldn't question some of the stuff he was gathering from around their house. Some of what he needed he had to look up online. If she knew what he was doing she would try to stop him. After gathering up everything he could at his house he made a couple quick stops at local herb and magic shops on the way back to the hospital.

Stiles walked into the isolation wing to find Scott. Luckily Melissa was elsewhere and Scott was there by himself staring at Isaac with his head against the glass.

"I need you to help me with something," said Stiles starting to pull him away.

"Now?" asked Scott, totally put out.

"Yes, now."

"I really need to be with Isaac right now."

"I need your help with something," Stiles said and then followed with a whisper. "That might help Isaac and the others."

"Is it safe?" Scott whispered back.

"No!" said Stiles in the gruffest whisper he could manage. "If it was safe I'd ask one of the hospital staff to help me so come on."

Stiles looked around to make sure no one overheard them, but he only saw Mrs. Reyes, now out of her hazmat suit sitting in the hallway, and the Hales who did not seem to be paying attention. He then led Scott out of the isolation wing and off toward the outpatient clinics.

On the way there he ducked into a laundry room and grabbed an orderly's uniform for Scott to put on.

"You're going to stand guard and if anyone asks this part of the hospital is closed."

"And what if we don't believe you?" said Laura turning the corner followed by Derek.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Stiles.

Laura pointed to her ear. "Werewolf hearing remember? You've got something else you can try?"

"I...yeah...sort of," said Stiles. "I'm not sure it will work."

"How can we help?" asked Derek.

"Scott's got it covered."

"Then we can help Scott," said Laura. "Nobody's gonna get through three Alphas."

Stiles didn't think this was such a great idea, but he had no energy to argue with Laura.

"Alright I've got some things that I have to set up so just hover menacingly over thataway," Stiles told them.

Laura and Scott made their way toward the hallway, but Derek held back. Stiles made himself busy and pretended not to notice until Derek was right up next to him.

"I want to thank you for doing this for me...for everything," said Derek.

Stiles turned to look at Derek's face, whose brow furrowed so strongly as if it had to bear the weight of the world.

"Stop thinking this is your fault," said Stiles.

"But..."

"Maybe it's not you Derek. Maybe it's me. Maybe Isaac was targeted because he was close to Scott. The great werewolf medical prodigy can't save his best friend who happens to be the True Alpha? Fredericks hates me so the chance to knock me down with something I can't cure right after I get here is a great way to discredit me. Did you think of that?"

"It's not about you Stiles..."

"You don't know that Derek. You. Don't. Know. You're just so convinced it's your fault that you won't even see any other possibility."

The look on Derek's face was hard to decipher. It was like the normal one he saw on people's faces when they couldn't believe what he'd just said, but there was something else as well. A look of affection? Gratitude? Stiles wasn't sure how to interpret it.

"This spell you're doing, it's not dangerous is it?" asked Derek.

"It's perfectly safe. I'll be fine."

"You forgot your spell," said Derek.

"Which one?" asked Stiles.

"They one that lets you lie to werewolves."

Stiles didn't realize Derek knew about that.

"I...it's safe enough."

"Still lying," said Derek.

Stiles stepped into Derek's space and looked him right in the eye. "This is their only chance. How's that for a truth?"

Derek put his hands on Stiles' shoulders and leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. "Just tell me you'll be careful. I can't lose...everything."

Stiles really hoped he wasn't reading the situation incorrectly when he angled his jaw forward and pressed their lips together. When Derek responded by pulling Stiles closer and deepening the kiss, Stiles knew he'd not misinterpreted anything. Derek's lips were so much softer than Stiles ever would have imagined. What was most surprising was the enormous amount of affection that Derek was able to put into that kiss. Stiles knew better or else he would have suspected it was some sort of werewolf power. If his thirteen year old self who'd had a crush on Derek could see himself now, he'd tell him that it was well worth the twelve year wait.

After they broke the kiss Stiles found himself at a little loss for words so he gestured around toward the ritual space with his finger.

"I should get back to the thing...with the thing."

"Okay," breathed Derek against his cheek.

Stiles was not particularly comfortable working magic while three non-mages looked on. There were all sorts of parts to the ritual that seemed downright silly if taken out of context or...let's be honest, even taken in context. Stiles had to admit some of the stuff magic folk get up to is just plain silly looking. Maybe it was the seriousness of the situation or maybe they were just being respectful, but nobody laughed.

"Okay, so here's the deal," said Stiles. "I'm going to leave my body for a while and travel to other planes of reality in search of a way to break the spell binding the virus to them. You guys make sure nobody comes in and disturbs me. Got it?"

"You'll be able to find a cure for Isaac?" asked Scott.

"If anyone has one, these guys do."

"Stiles," said Derek. "Be careful."

Stiles have him his best hopeful smile, even if he wasn't fully feeling it.

"Time works a little differently in other planes of existence. Weeks there will only be a few minutes here. I should be back in fifteen-twenty minutes tops."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Scott.

"It's fine," said Stiles. "I'll be fine."

And with that he lay down in the middle of the circle he'd made and began the final workings of the spell.

****

Scott was worried. Real worried. Stiles had been out of his body for over four hours now. Scott was pacing back and forth and regularly asking if Stiles' condition had changed any, despite knowing it hadn't. After the first half-hour Derek had sat down next to where Stiles lay and held his hand. You would have thought that as keyed up as they were, they would have heard someone approach.

"What the hell is going on here?"

There in the doorway stood Talia Hale.

Oh shit.

 


	10. Chapter 10

Claudia Stilinski stopped dead still as soon as she stepped into the room.

"Oh god. Oh dear god..."

Claudia turned to Laura.

"Did you put him up to this?"

"Me?" asked Laura incredulously. "Why do you think it was me?"

"Because Derek would never ask someone to risk themselves for him."

"What about Scott?" argued Laura.

"Scott is guileless," said Claudia firmly.

"What does that mean? Is it a bad thing?" asked Scott.

"No honey, it's not," replied Talia reassuringly.

"It's my fault," said Derek not moving his eyes off of Stiles. "I knew he was lying when he told me it was safe, but I didn't stop him. He just...seemed so sure."

Claudia and Talia exchanged a look.

"It's been how long?" asked Claudia as she walked over and knelt down on the other side of Stiles' body opposite Derek.

"Almost five hours," said Scott.

"That's months if not years down on the lower planes," said Claudia. She looked at the ritual space Stiles had prepared. "A silver coin, grains of wheat, and...is that werewolf blood?"

"It's Isaac's," said Scott. "How could you tell?"

Claudia gave him a tired smile.

"I may be an old woman with brain damage, but I haven't lost all of my power yet."

She reached down and took the other hand of Stiles' that Derek wasn't holding.

"C'mon Stiles, find your way back."

"Where did he go?" asked Scott.

"He didn't tell you?" asked Claudia raising her eyes to his before letting them drop back to Stiles' face. "He's gone to hell."

*****

Stiles felt himself dropping slowly. When he stopped he opened his eyes and found himself in a forest lying in a bed of moss. It was probably the forest that the ground the hospital was built on remembered from long ago. He was not surprised at all to see a wolf with a silver coat sitting next to him.

"Hi Clarissa," said Stiles. "Or should I call you Nemuria?"

She huffed at him.

"You probably don't care because you've been called different things by different cultures at different times."

She came forward and nuzzled his neck. He dug his hands into her thick fur and pulled her close before burying his face into her side.

"I'm going to Mictlan and I'm fucking scared," Stiles told her.

She turned her head and licked a stripe up his jaw.

"Are you here to see me off?"

She huffed at him again.

"You're coming with me?"

She whined just a little.

"Well, I'll take the company while I can have it."

After leaving Beacon Hills they walked for several days without stopping. Stiles spirit form didn't need sleep exactly, but he did need rest now and then. They walked through Oakland and Stiles could see San Francisco across the Bay. As the families who have lived in San Francisco move out and the yuppies move in so do their spirits and gods. Household gods and healing spirits pack up and head out as the gods of money and power took the I-80 freeway right into downtown.

They headed South through the central valley and then headed East into the desert. They stopped to rest and talk with the god of telephone answering machines for a while somewhere between Phoenix, Arizona and a lower plane of existence. He begged them not to go, he's old and tired, not sure he has the energy to move. They begged his forgiveness and moved on.

At the US/Mexican border there was a frenzy of activity. It was a cross between a party and a battlefield. Warrior spirits on both sides clashed in non-stop battles, completely unaware of anything else going on around them. Little spirits raided their camps for snacks and danced around their unattended fires. There were plenty swirling and dancing as they fed off of the casualties of war. Dark spirits fed off of the anger and hatred created by the border. Small towns of spirit world folk had sprung up all along it to take advantage of all the activity. Most of the spirits seemed to just ignore the battle going on around them. This was to them, business as usual.

A few hundred miles past the border, they found the passageway to the underworld that would bring them closest to Mictlan. Stiles assumed it would be treacherous, but it is a well worn path. He supposed that if you were to want spirits to make their way to the land of the dead you should probably make it easy to get there. They see no one on this path. Stiles was not surprised as few have followed the gods of Mictlan since the dying of the fourth sun.

Once in the underworld they walked for many days, very rarely finding any water to nourish them. They came to a land of nine rivers. The river closest to them was a river of blood. Conveniently there by the shore was a cloaked ferryman and his boat. Nemuria pulled at his clothing and indicated she could go no further. Stiles knelt down and enveloped her in a hug. After he rose to head toward the boat Nemuria twisted herself around and began to tear at her own flesh. Stiles was horrified at first, but then she tore out one of her own ribs and offered it to him. He understood that she was giving him a part of herself even if she could not go further.

He handed the ferryman his silver coin and boarded the boat. The ferryman took him across the rivers including a river of scorpions, a river of blood, and a river of pus. The other side of the rivers was not much more inviting. Hell, at least this hell, was not full of fire, pitchforks, and pointy haired devils. It was a desert. A desert full of mountains, valleys and endless sun. Stiles didn't think he can get any hotter or any thirstier, yet he did not drop from heat stroke and he did not collapse from dehydration. He just walked on and on for days and weeks.

From atop the next mountain Stiles can see that he must descend into the canyon below to find his way out. The bottom was so far down that not enough light reached it to make it visible. He looked forward to getting out of the oppressive sun for a time. He was halfway down before he noticed that the edges of the rock were all chipped rather than smooth the way water would normally create a canyon. He knew the winds were fast because he could hear whistling when gusts blew through the canyon.

Stiles was on the canyon floor before he heard the winds again. When they finally hit him he realized they were no ordinary winds. They were winds of icy cold knives that cut and shredded his skin. He wasn't sure if he fell or threw himself down to the ground in order to protect himself. There was a bend in the canyon wall that hadn't been worn down so he slowly crawled on his belly toward it. Once there he pulled himself up and pressed himself against the wall to shield himself from the wind, hands shaking with cold, flesh torn. Once the winds had ended he tried to remind himself that this was his spiritual body and he could heal it in theory, but it didn't make the pain any less.

He traveled the floor of the canyon, seeking shelter the second he heard the winds begin to pick up until he could find rocks that would allow him to climb his way up the other side of the canyon. He made his way up as quickly as he could, completely exhausted by the time he pulled himself out. He landed on top in a heap and allowed himself to bake in the heat for some time, just to rest his muscles.

He rose to continue his journey, but a chill went up Stiles' spine. From behind himself he felt as though tendrils of smoke were lapping at his back. He turned and focused toward the direction it seemed to be coming from. He felt _it_ before he could see it or smell it and it had a strong odor of decay that one didn't need a werewolf nose to smell. Stiles dove behind an outcropping of rocks. He dared to poke his head out and see what was there. It was a giant snarling dog, the size of a rhino with half its flesh rotting. It had no eyes, but its mouth was large enough to eat half of Stiles in a single bite.

"I smell a man-boy. A living man-boy. It's been a long time since I had fresh food to eat."

Stiles could see the creature sniffing the air and trying to catch his scent.

"You must be tired from your journey boy. Why not let me make it a quick and easy end for you?"

Stiles realized this was not Xolotl, the dog god who guides souls to the land of the dead. This was something else, something dangerous.

"Come out boy! I can smell your blood!"

The mention of blood reminded Stiles of the bloody bone that Nemuria had torn from her side. Stiles took the rib bone out and threw it past the dog and over the cliff.

"Nemuria is that you, you tired old whore?" called the dog. "You shouldn't have entered the Underworld because now I've got your scent. I won't stop until I've ground your bones with my teeth and drank your blood!"

The dog made his way down the cliff side, following the scent down of the bone. Once Stiles was sure he was gone he scrambled out of hiding and quickly went on his way.

He made his way down the next valley and from there he could spy a large mesa in the distance. He knew it was his destination. Stiles moved as quickly as he could, but the knife wounds continuously reopening brought him much pain. He walked around the mesa, what felt like half a day at least before he found a trail that would lead him up to the top. He walked until there was no path. Then he climbed. Up he would go until he no longer could, then he went back down until he had another path to take. This went on until he finally made his way and pulled himself up to the top. He dropped from exhaustion and lay there for some time.

There upon the top of the mesa was a gigantic house with no windows that looked as if it had been carved out of stone. Right at ground level Stiles saw what must be the door. He pulled himself up the rest of the way and began to walk toward it. As he approached the door he saw no one. He thought he might encounter guards, but who breaks into Hell?

Once inside the hallway was long and dimly lit with many small hallways off of it, but clearly led to where Stiles wanted to go. As he got closer and closer the light increased until it was overwhelming every one of his senses.

He stepped inside the throne room of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl, the King and Queen of the Underworld. They appeared as fifteen foot tall skeletons with eyeballs. They were splattered with blood. Their thrones were made of plain slabs of limestone. Stiles didn't have to look at the gender differences in her skeleton to know which of them is Mictecacihuatl. There was just something about how she held herself. Something about her presence. He assumed that Mictlantecuhtli would seem darker or more evil. He didn't. He just didn't seem quite real or maybe he was hyperreal...and that's saying something for the spirit world.

"What has brought you to us sooner than intended Little Spark?"

"I bring you blood of a mestaclocan, bound with a quicacatzilpia enchantment," said Stiles. "I offer you this blood in exchange for learning how to break the quicacatzilpia enchantment."

"You want to take from me those who will join me so soon?" asked Mictlantecuhtli with a voice of rage that shook Stiles to his core. The death god then broke into peals of laughter as if the whole thing was a joke. "What will you give me in their place? You? I bet you would entertain me greatly little spark. You have such a mouth on you!"

"I will also offer you this," said Stiles as he put down the handful of grains before Mictlantecuhtli's throne.

"Grains?"

"They are the promise of life, an appropriate offering for my free passage from Mictlan."

"That would be true if you were any normal person, but you aren't are you Little Spark?"

"What are you saying?" asked Stiles.

"I'm saying you should sit down and enjoy yourself," replied Mictlantecuhtli.

"Enjoy...myself?" Stiles asked, though he couldn't remember what it was in response to. He was sitting on the floor next to the throne of the queen of Mictlan. He felt weak and when he looked down at his arms he was emaciated. He gathered his energy to clear his head, stood up, and stepped away from the thrones to face Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl.

"How long have I been here?"

"Long enough to improve your looks!" said Mictlantecuhtli with a laugh. Mictecacihuatl chortled along with him.

"I need to get out of here!"

"I don't think that's happening anytime soon Little Spark."

"I could offer you the most precious thing I have," said Stiles.

Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatllaughed as if this was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

"Kings and Emperors have stood before me and begged with all of their riches. What do you think you have that I have not already been offered?"

"A memory," said Stiles.

Both of the gods became silent. It was hard to read an expression in the death god's skull of a face, but the tilt of his head seemed to express some intrigue.

"What kind of memory?" asked Mictlantecuhtli, his voice almost a whisper.

"The moment when I found out my mother was going to live."

The two gods looked at each other and then back at Stiles. Mictlantecuhtli stared at him mostly still, but Mictecacihuatl's trembling posture betrayed her excitement.

"For this you want to leave Mictlan?" asked Mictlantecuhtli.

"I want safe passage out of Mictlan and I want the knowledge to break the quicacatzilpia enchantment."

*****

Stiles gasped and sat up quickly in his body. He felt as though he'd been dropped a hundred feet into his body. Derek had his hands on both of his shoulders.

"I got it," blurted Stiles as he fought to draw breaths. "I got the cure."

He was quickly pulled away from Derek and pulled into his mother's embrace.

"Mom?" asked Stiles. "What are you doing here?"

"You're grounded," said Claudia.

"Why?"

"You went to Hell and didn't tell anyone," scolded Claudia as she held him away from her enough to scowl at him.

"I'm 25 years old," Stiles reminded her.

"I don't care."

"I have two doctorates."

"Don't care."

Stiles turned his head and saw Derek on the other side of him, his eyes full of tears.

"Why are you crying Sourwolf?"

"I thought...I thought I lost you," said Derek, not making eye contact.

"Just because I'm 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone doesn't mean I'm not tough."

Derek smiled through his tears.

"Sourwolf," whispered Laura to Scott. "Please tell me that nickname sticks."

 


	11. Chapter 11

Stiles had been thinking about what a stress-free day they were having in the emergency room when he saw them: Laura and Cora. They approached him in lockstep.

It couldn't mean anything good.

"Stiles, what are you going to say when Derek asks you to marry him?" asked Cora.

Stiles sure felt as if he had slipped and fallen backward, yet he was still standing upright.

"Derek's going to ask me to marry him? Are you sure?"

"He bought the ring six months ago, but he's been too chicken shit to ask you," said Laura. "Now what are you going to say?"

"Whuh...um...why would I say no?"

"Alright then, we have to come up with a plan to get him to man up and pop the question," said Laura.

"We could convince him that Stiles has an incurable disease and that if he doesn't ask him now he'll never get the chance."

"That's cruel and manipulative Cor," said Laura.

"This whole thing is manipulative," said Stiles.

"Well I'm fresh out of ideas," said Cora.

"Me dying is the only idea you had?"

"How about we tell Derek that Stiles' secret love from medical school is coming to town to ask Stiles to marry him because he realized that Stiles is the one true love of his life?" asked Laura.

"You're sorta overselling Stiles don't you think?" asked Cora.

"You two are stuck in one of your little insanity feedback loops where you no longer actually hear other people anymore aren't you?" asked Stiles.

"It's believable. Have you seen the kind of nerds that go to medical school? They have _no_ lives," said Laura.

"Says the woman who went to law school," retorted Cora.

"I'm just gonna go now," said Stiles as he turned and walked away.

He was supposed to spend the hour after his shift tutoring Isaac through his Pre-Med homework, but he called him and rescheduled. He knew he needed to be proactive before Laura and Cora had a chance to put one of their plans in motion. Past plans of theirs had resulted in numerous casualties.

When he got home Derek met Stiles at the door with his usual kiss.

"You're home early," said Derek. "No studying with Isaac?"

"My mother was here," said Stiles. " I can tell. It's like a disturbance in the force."

"She wants us to come over for dinner tonight."

"She has cooked for me more in the year we've been living together than she probably did the entire rest of my life."

"Would we go over there otherwise?"

Stiles harumphed and Derek pulled him in for another kiss.

"On the upside, we rarely have to buy food," said Derek against Stiles' mouth.

Stiles pulled back to look at him more squarely.

"Polish your shoes and put on your spats, we're going out to dinner tonight. Someplace fancy."

"I think I left my spats back in 1923," said Derek.

"Then you get to call my mother and tell her we're not coming to dinner."

"Is there any reason we're going someplace fancy for dinner?"

"Maybe. But do I really need a reason to take my sexy boyfriend out to a fancy dinner?"

"I am wary of how I answer that will affect my future so I am going to choose to be silent and take a quick shower," said Derek.

"Wise," said Stiles, before giving Derek's butt a final squeeze.

After the wine arrived Stiles looked across the table where Derek was studying the specials menu, even though he would never order off of it.

"Derek?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Yes."

Derek looked up at him.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

"You'll...what?"

"You did want to ask me to marry you didn't you?" asked Stiles.

"Um...yes...but how did you...?" asked Derek.

"Laura and Cora ambushed me."

Derek glared.

"I hate them."

"They mean well."

"No, they don't," said Derek. "A house came on the market that my mother wants to buy us as a wedding present, but she wants your approval first. They're just winning points with her."

"A house? She wants to buy us a house?"

"A large one that we can fill with lots of kids."

"Kids?" asked Stiles. "You want kids? You're ready for kids?"

"I do and...I think I am," said Derek. "I thought you wanted kids?"

"We've never talked about it. How did you know?"

"I was looking through your browser history a couple of months ago to get an idea of what to buy you for your birthday. I found surrogate mother websites that specialized in werewolves."

"I don't know if I'm more in shock that you are ready to have kids or that you know enough about computers to have looked up my browser history."

Derek leveled him a glare.

"Wait," said Stiles. "Lots of kids?"

"My mother expects us to produce plenty of grandchildren because ours are the most likely to be psychologically normal."

"Ours will be normal? Our kids?"

"Picture in your mind what Laura or Cora's kids are going to be like and then picture what our kids will be like," said Derek.

"Ahh..." said Stiles. "Your mother has a point. Everything is relative."

"We can leave them with your parents a lot," added Derek.

"Contrary to popular belief, that will not make them more normal. They produced me after all."

"I'll take a hundred of you over one more Laura or Cora."

"Who couldn't get enough of all this?"

"Okay maybe only ten of you."

After dinner Derek drove them back to the house. Stiles waited in the car while Derek went in and got it. Then Derek drove him to the park near city hall and led him by the hand to the gazebo. Derek got down on one knee and asked Stiles to marry him. Stiles wanted to make a joke, but knew how serious Derek got about moments like these and didn't want to have to hear about it for the rest of his natural life. He bent down and put his lips right up against Derek's ear before whispering "yes".

Derek stood as he pulled him close. His lips found Stiles' as they always did. Like there was nowhere else they would ever be.

*****

With the border tightening up it hadn't been easy for Gerard to back into the country. He'd had to endure a lot of hardship for someone in such fragile health. He didn't let any of this weakness show as he stood in front of the assembled group. Not even Chris or Victoria knew how bad off he was.

"It's this Dr. Stilinski," he said. "He's much stronger than he's letting on. Much stronger."

There was a lot of nodding from the group gathered in the old barn. Chris's head was still and his face gave away nothing. Gerard knew he had learned it from him.

"This werewolf doctor found a way to break the Quicacatzilpia spell, something that was said only the gods could break!"

He looked around the room for dramatic effect. Representatives of hunter clans from all over the country were here. They'd traveled at great risk of exposure to come together on this. He wanted to make sure he had their full attention.

"As long as they've got him on their side we will never succeed in wiping those feral beasts out. Until we deal with him, _everything_ we have planned will have to be put on hold."

Gerard paused to look in the eye every person in the room. He wanted them to understand the gravity of what he was about to say.

"Our number one priority needs to be _killing_ Stiles Stilinski."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! A cliffhanger? Whatever will my black little heart do?
> 
> Thanks for reading everyone and be sure to check out my other fics! (A few of them are actually good!)


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